Is China in a later stage of a U-shaped forest resource curve? A re-examination of empirical evidence

Amidst surging interest in the policy implications of a hypothetical environmental Kuznets curve, a claim has emerged recently arguing that China has entered a later stage of a U-shaped forest resource curve. Using published data for the past two decades, we show that there is a lack of empirical evidence supporting that claim. At the level of provinces in China, forest cover and per capita GDP appear to have a nonlinear, positive relationship, but regression results do not lend support to the existence of a nicely-behaved U-shaped curve. The findings suggest that policy makers need to be cautious about the statement that a particular jurisdiction is in an advanced stage of forest resources management.