A decay hazard map for exterior above-ground wood structures is presented based on Scheffer’s Climate Index, with the major purpose of promoting awareness for proper protection of wood structures in different locations in China. A very large area in the South, including southern Yunnan, most of Sichuan Province and Chongqing, and part of Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang, as well as all the more southern areas, has decay hazard ratings above 70, considered a severe decay hazard zone according to the accepted classifications. The moderate decay hazard zone, Index values between 35 and 70, consists mainly of the central areas of China, from the west to the east, including parts of Xizang, Yunnan, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangsu, as well as Shanghai. It also includes most areas in Northeast China, together with a small pocket around Beijing. By comparison, large areas in the north, from the west to the east, including most areas in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, part of Qinghai, Gansu, Ninxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei, and a small part of Henan, are in a low hazard zone with index ratings below 35. The research demonstrates that the areas across China in the Southwest, South, Central China, Southeast, and Northeast, with the highest population densities and also containing areas on the east coast with the strongest economic development, have severe to moderate decay hazard for above-ground wood structures, making proper wood protection more critical and economically important.

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