Jun 29, 2007. /Lesprom Network/. Cathay Forest Products Corp. is pleased to announce that for the first time, it has begun shipping lumber from Russia to China via water transport. This new transportation system augments Cathay's current distribution of lumber from Russia to China using rail lines. "Using barges allows us to transport greater volumes of wood at improved margins, said Anthony Ng, Cathay Forest's president and CEO. "This activity reinforces our interests in developing lumber trade from Russia. Russia is ideal as it is the only region in the world that has large volumes of wood with such close proximity to China's market." Adding barges to Cathay's lumber activity in Russia improves the company's ability to move large quantities of lumber economically. The company expects it is now able to import a total of 150 000 cubic meters of round wood from Russia this year. The lumber brought in via barge is further transported to Northern-China's largest wood trading market located in Dalian, Liaoning province. Cathay Forest's strategy is to develop sustainable, regenerative forest assets. To date, the company has developed poplar plantations and acquired standing timber properties in China. The company will continue expanding its China-based timber properties and is also increasing commercial timber activities in Russian border areas. Cathay Forest is a forest products company managing standing timber properties and developing fast-growth, high-yield poplar plantations in the Peoples Republic of China. Cathay Forest is building a world class forest products company through a customer base that includes the domestic Chinese pulp and paper industry and harvesting customers serving a variety of wood product industries.