While the outlook for bamboo as a substitute alternative is promising, Liang acknowledged that domestic demand may take time to grow as consumer attitudes shift.

Bamboo products are already gaining traction in European and other international markets, but the domestic market still requires incentives to drive industry growth, according to Tang.

"Replacing wood materials with bamboo is already a common practice," he said. "However, using bamboo to fully substitute plastic is not an easy task. So far, there are only limited scenarios in which bamboo is used as a substitute for plastic in daily life."

One major challenge is the price difference between bamboo and plastic. Although plastic production based on fossil fuels generates more greenhouse gases, it remains cheaper due to lower labor and transportation costs compared to bamboo harvesting and processing, according to Tang.

"The price difference makes consumers favor plastic products," he said. "While we highlight bamboo's potential to reduce plastic pollution, the public often struggles to connect with it, as it seems distant from their everyday lives."

On the online shop for Anji's bamboo products, a bamboo toothbrush costs 3 yuan, and a bamboo Bluetooth keyboard is priced at 299 yuan. "The prices of these bamboo products are becoming more competitive compared to plastic alternatives," Bai said.

The government has introduced subsidies for certain bamboo products to reduce their prices and promote wider adoption. "These subsidies help bamboo products compete with plastic items, especially since many consumers are still unfamiliar with bamboo alternatives," she said.

"Consumer awareness is key," said Tang. "To further promote bamboo products in daily life, we need to shift traditional consumption habits."

In efforts to lower costs, Anji has developed low-altitude ropeways and drones to transport bamboo from the mountains.

"As automation boosts productivity and brings costs down, the increasing supply of bamboo should be met with rising demand so as to achieve market equilibrium," Tang said.

Anji is exploring bamboo's potential to replace not just wood and plastics but also steel, gas and even food. According to Tang, bamboo can serve as a renewable energy source based on its high caloric value, as a construction material because of its hardness, as a healthy food option and as a biomass material in cosmetics.

"To fully realize bamboo's ecological and social benefits, cross-sector collaboration is essential," he said.

Tang highlighted that using bamboo to replace plastic goes beyond just production. The entire life cycle of bamboo replacing plastics involves production, consumption and disposal.