Bio-based Materials China News

In March 2013, a series of policies related to the biomaterials industry were published in China. The Chinese government paid more attention to green agriculture and environmental protection. For example, a proposal about strengthening the development of green agriculture put forward by the Jiu San (Sept. 3) Society was selected as the No. 1 proposal of CPPCC, and biodegradable agricultural film may benefit from it. Some local governments also published some environmental protection policies. For example, Guangdong Province issued a policy to restrict the use of disposable plastic supplies, which may provide a good opportunity for the development of straw-based plastic, a cheap biodegradable material.

For the domestic biomaterial industry, the macro environment will not change in a short term, but some enterprises are making efforts to grasp a larger market. For example, Bio-plus Materials Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. successfully processed PLA foam sheet, while Guangdong Shangjiu Biodegradable Plastic Co., Ltd. tried to develop a market in Hainan Province, a region with relatively strict environmental protection policy but lacking biomaterial producers.

China’s biomaterial industry is developing fast, attracting many global enterprises to develop the Chinese market or cooperate with Chinese enterprises. For example, Tianjin GreenBio Materials Co., Ltd. signed a distribution agreement with Metabolix, Inc., while TÜV Rheinland commissioned its biodegradability lab in Shanghai.

In Feb. 2013, under the influence of the Chinese Spring Festival, the foreign trade of China’s PLA and cassava decreased a lot.