Market research in China has typically been over-reliant on rudimentary assumptions regarding relationships between GDP per capita and paper consumption, without due consideration to the type of GDP growth (e.g. fixed asset investment rather than domestic consumption), nor to the massive inequalities which exist in China.

Official statistics of paper production and consumption in China are too general and out of date to be of practical use, and in many cases are contradictory and unreliable. Although the report incorporates all available published information this is augmented by extensive primary research throughout the year.