Meanwhile, the industrial Northeast suffered its own forest inventory shortfall. The responsibility of the state commercial forests that predominate in this region was to keep the mills supplied with wood. However, low prices meant that the Ministry of Forestry did not recover a sufficient stumpage return and a sufficient budget to cover its own production costs. The Ministry's ability to manage the state forests declined, and the forest inventory declined as well. A new stumpage pricing system was introduced in the late 1970s.
Prices are higher now, and the inventory on some state lands is recovering.
Ten large centrally directed new reforestation projects also add to the growing stock on state lands. Nevertheless, the harvestable stock on state lands in general is only one-fourth of what it was in 1959, and the entire state sector of the forest industry has suffered financial losses since 1990. In spite of some recovering inventories, China's demands for wood products cannot be met by its own harvests. Imports of timber, for example have tripled since 1981, and wood product imports have risen to 2 times their former level. Financial reforms in the early 1980s followed agricultural and forestry reforms.