China Becoming a Large Furniture Manufacturing and Consuming Country

News from the sixth China International Furniture Exhibition held on the 13th in Shanghai says: The furniture manufacturers in China have exceeded 30,000 now. The whole output value reached 100 billion yuan in 1999, and the volume of export reached US$2.7 billion. Our country has already become a large furniture manufacturing and consuming country.

The exhibition area of the first China International Furniture Exhibition was only 3000 square meters,with few exhibition traders. But in this session,the exhibition area exceeds 60000 square meters. There are more than 800 well-known furniture manufacturers from more than 20 countries and regions. It is a very influential furniture exhibition in Asia,reflecting the furniture production growth of China.

Experts point out:The real estate and the house decoration fever have activated the potentiality of China's furniture market,stimulating the domestic furniture industry growth.These factors attract the international furniture manufacturers to come to China to seize the opportunity for business.

Nowadays, we have sufficient source of furniture in our country with abundant variety. In more and more Chinese especially young people's viewpoints, furniture is not only the article for daily use, but also embody hosts' identity and individual characters. The furniture consumption extends from the large and medium cities to the small cities and towns.

Since the 1980's, some furniture manufacturers emerged rapidly one after another in our country. At present there are over 30,000. The industrial workers exceed 2 million. A batch of well-known enterprises and famous brands begin to emerge. Through introducing some countries¡¯ advanced furniture manufacturing technology and equipment, such as America and Europe, Japan,etc., the furniture technologies were upgraded. The level of the industrialization was raised. The scale was enlarged rapidly.

Through using the design theory and style of western furniture, combining with the Chinese culture, Chinese furniture industry has created their own unique style which blends with the technology and aesthetics. Through the joint venture cooperation and the international trade,the grade,quality,technological content and added value of exported furniture were improved constantly.

Many foreign furniture manufacturers come to China to set up their factories. For example,Singapore investors built the Singaporean furniture industrial park in Kunshan of Jiangsu province, occupying an area of 350,000 square meters. The total investment was nearly US$100 million. Taiwanese furniture manufacturers also built 200 production lines in mainland. Hong Kong furniture manufacturers have already moved their factories from Hong Kong to Guangdong, Fujian, etc.

The American-European furniture manufacturers such as Italy, Germany, France, Spain, US. also want to expand their business in China. They will seek cooperative partners in China to push the local production.



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