As a renewable resource,forests notonly provide timber and other products but also have influences on biodiversity and genetic resources.In recent decades,China has higher deforestation rates than some other countries.Between 1994 and 1996,the average annual deforestation in China was approximately 3.0% of the forested area. The underlying causes of deforestation are,however,poorly understood.In this paper,the correlation between deforestation in China and 9 socioeconomic variables is analyzed,and the result shows that there are significant correlations between deforestation and some variables.In China,forest products per unit forest area have the greatest effects on deforestation rate. Our analyses reveal several possible causes of deforestation such as overpopulation, cyclical economic fluctuation and errors in policy,and show that strong domestic demand for timber and fuel-wood and charcoal owing to overpopulation and economic development is the principal cause of high deforestation.According to previous deforestation studies, policy factor deserves greater attention. Our studies have important policy and managementimplications,and advocate that some measures should be adopted in order to slow down the declining tendency of forest resources in China.