Over-glitzy packing is chopping down millions of trees every year in China and wrapping up corruption, a political advisor has warned.

Song Xiaohua, who is in Beijing attending the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, which opened on March 3, called for effective measures to curb over-packing, accusing it a huge waste of already inadequate resources.

Paper, rubber, glass and steel, which are all important materials for industrial production and daily life, have been lavishly consumed by the packing industry, Song said.

"China produces about 1.2 billion shirts a year, and 800 million are packed by paper boxes, which consume roughly 240,000 tons of paper and need to fell 1.68 million trees with a diameter of 10 cm," he said.

Packaging also generates a lot of garbage, most of which is not degradable, he added.

Statistics show that Beijing's annual garbage amounts to three million tons, and 20 percent of which comes from excessive wrapping. The city spends about one billion yuan (US$128 million) every year treating the garbage.

Over-packing has also fostered wasteful consumption habits and become a cover-up for some businessmen to gain staggering profits, as wrapping sometimes take up 70 percent of the total cost of a commodity, Song said.

"It can even wrap up corruption," he said, citing that luxuriously-packed festival gifts are now often used to bribe officials.

There were reports that exorbitant mooncake packs containing "special accessories" such as wine or fine watches became popular gifts at traditional Mid-Autumn festival time.

Two extreme cases were a box of mooncakes containing a gold Buddha worth 180,000 yuan (US$22,500) and another box with the key to a new apartment worth 310,000 yuan (US$38,750).

It's possible that people buy them to bribe officials, revealed some insiders.

Song suggested that over-packing be listed as a fraudulent commercial behavior that is subject to legal supervision and penalty.

He called on the government to set up official criteria for packaging and issue taxation and industrial policies to encourage non-packing common commodities and simple packing for luxuries.

"Packaging should be recyclable and do no harm to the environment and people's health," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2007)