Chinese get pine push

By PAM GRAHAM

Chinese Government officials arrived in New Zealand this week to check out radiata pine timber framing as part of lobbying by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to have the species included in a new building code.

China, which uses reinforced concrete for most city buildings, released a draft building code in July with a list of approved wood species that did not include pine.

The ministry is hoping that a visit by five officials and Ministry of Construction Vice-Minister Liu Zhifeng will change that.

Liu visits from November 25 to 28 and will meet Forestry Minister Jim Sutton.

The group of officials, which includes engineers, arrived on Wednesday.



China imports about $40 million a year of sawn timber, very little of which is timber framing for housing. It aims to issue the new construction standard next year.