People are dwarfed as they walk near the Hainan PM 2, the world's largest paper machine at Asia Pulp and Paper's Hainan mill. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.
Workers at the Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) nursery center perform a seedling classification of three-month-old acacia trees in an adaptive net shelter. Qualified seedlings are delivered to plantation site, while other smaller trees are left to continue to grow. The nursery is one of two APP nurseries in China where workers select the tallest trees that yield the most pulp, clone them and plant the cloned seedlings. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.
Trucks stacked with timber wait to show their paperwork at a point of entry at the APP's Hainan pulp and paper mill in Yangpu. APP claims that the multiple checkpoints needed to transport logs into the facility make illegal logging very difficult. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.
An ornate dragon outside the APP's Hainan pulp and paper mill in Yangpu. In China, dragons symbolize strength and power. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.
The Hainan PM 2, the world's largest paper machine, at APP's Hainan pulp and paper mill in Yangpu. The machine measures 468 yards end to end and has an annual output of over 1 million metric tons. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.
Wending Haung, deputy CEO of APP China Forestry, stands at the base of a 10-year-old, 80-ft. high eucalyptus tree near the He She Luoye plantation in Hainan province, a tropical part of China. In many cases the eucalyptus trees need only 4 to 6 years to be ready for paper making. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.
A worker stands behind a cut paper roll near the Hainan PM 2, the world's largest paper machine. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.
APP lab technicians use surgical instruments to transplant tissue samples of eucalyptus trees. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.
Wending Haung, deputy CEO of APP China Forestry, stands between laboratory jars containing cuttings that grow in a climate controlled incubation area. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.
Seven-year-old eucalyptus trees measuring 75 ft. high in a testing site at the Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) nursery center in Dingan. Most APP timberlands cultivate a species of eucalyptus that grows quickly. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.
Families ride on motorized bikes in Haikou, Hainan province, a tropical part of China. The scene is not uncommon as families rely on one bike as their main mode of transportation. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.
A boy stands on a pier near his family's fishing boat near the Qiongzhou Straight in Haikou located in Hainan province. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Published December 11, 2012

Mike De Sisti, for the Pulitzer Center

Despite a lack of forests, China has overtaken the U.S. as the world’s largest manufacturer of paper, tripling output over the last decade.

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China and Wisconsin: Paper Cuts

Faced with the devastating twin threats of digital and China, can a critical Wisconsin industry survive?

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