The Champion of the Earth Stone Paper Technology Corp., based in northeast China's Jilin Province, had its first stone paper manufacturing plant in production over the weekend, said Zhang Chongwu, acting president of the company, Monday.

He said the plant in Wangqing County had an annual production capacity of 200,000 tonnes of the environment-friendly paper bags.

"This amount of the paper bags can reduce the requirement for 13 million plastic bags," Zhang said.

He said the company would have another two plants in production by the end of the year, when total production capacity would reach 300,000 tonnes a year.

Zhang said the company, one of the inventors of the technology, was optimistic about the huge market potential of the low-carbon and low-cost product, and planned to open eight plants to supply the stone paper.

To promote the products, the government of the Yanbian Korea Autonomous Prefecture, in Jilin, Saturday issued a regional ban of some types of plastic bags and offering subsidies to companies that used RMP products.

The company claims the new paper is about 20 percent to 30 percent cheaper than the ordinary paper.

According to the company, the ground wood in conventional paper is replaced by low-cost precipitated calcium carbonate, while the boiling, washing and bleaching process that needs strong acid, strong alkaline and chlorinated lime and causes pollution is not required.

The company's RMP document bags and notepads were highly commended by Chinese lawmakers and political advisors when they were first presented at the annual session to the country's top legislature, the National People's Congress, in March.

RMP products were not only cheaper than plastic equivalents, but also yielded less pollutant discharges in the production process, said Dong Suocheng, a researcher with the Institute of Geographic Sciences and National Resources Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"The traditional papermaking industry causes heavy pollution, and consumes wood and freshwater. If RMP can replace conventional paper, it will bring about great economic and ecological benefits," he said.