Hi Five China: Huaihua's bamboo breakthrough

In Huaihua, a mountain city in Central China, you might be surprised by what bamboo can do. Keyboards, mice and even truck bed panels can all be made from bamboo.

Huaihua is home to more than 112,000 hectares of bamboo forest and some 310 million bamboo plants. For at least 7,000 years, people here have lived and worked with bamboo. Today, that long tradition is taking on new possibilities.

In 2025, "bamboo as a substitute for plastic" was included in China's 15th Five-Year Plan, which calls for accelerating the development of bamboo-based alternatives to plastic. Huaihua is already putting that idea into practice.

Its bamboo truck bed panels have entered the supply chains of international automakers, including Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, offering an alternative to steel.

Through the Huaihua International Land Port, bamboo products reach more than 50 countries and regions.

Follow China Daily reporter Yan An on the ground to see how a piece of bamboo makes its way from the mountains to the world — and how China's green development is creating benefits beyond its borders.