Heilongjiang Province in northeast China will ban commercial logging of its natural forests from Tuesday.

Excessive logging over long periods have sharply reduced forest resources and downgraded quality of state forests in the province, said Zhao Shucong, chief of the state forestry administration.

"To protect the ecosystem and insure sustainable development of forests, it is urgent that commercial logging be stopped," Zhao told a press conference in Beijing on Monday.

"The logging ban ends more than 100 years of excessive exploitation of forests," the official said, adding the measure was important in restoring the nation's forest resources and insuring ecological security.

He said that industries such as tourism and green agriculture should be developed as substitutes for logging.

The Heilongjiang province is home to 18.5 million hectares of state forest. Endi