Furniture Market in China

China is the world's most populous country (1.3 billion) and the fourth largest country in area 9.6 million km ), with a continuous culture stretching back nearly 5000 years. The Chinese wood furniture history is as long as its culture and reached its peak during the late Ming (1369-1644 AD) and early Qing dynasties (1644-1911 AD). During this period, furniture of minimal classical style was abundantly produced in durable tropical hardwood shipped from Southeast Asia, especially after the ban on imports was lifted in 1567. Many of them are still well preserved in large museums all around the world, as masterpieces of handicrafts.

The history of China's modern furnitureindustry began in the early 1980s, after the "Reform and Open Door Policy" was adopted by the government. During the following two decades, it assumed a double-digit annual growth and rapidly took the leading position as an international furniture manufacturer, taking up 10 per cent of the global market share. Domestically, the furniture industry is the nation's eighth largest industry, contributing about 1.6 per cent of GDP in 2002, about 2 per cent of the export value in the same year. The wood sector is its largest sector (70 per cent) and metal furniture (15 per cent) followed by upholstered furniture, rattan furniture and plastic furniture.

Wood furniture enterprises in China are mainly distributed in South China, East China, Northeast China, where China's four key markets are located- Guangdong province, Shanghai, Beijing and Danlian. Private and foreign invested or solely owned companies are the most common types of ownership with small to medium sizes. Both the industry and marketplaces reveal distinctive regional characteristics.

Today, there has been a significant increase in the awareness of branding and marketing within the industry. Total Quality Management (TQM) has been widely accepted by the Chinese manufacturers. The various furniture trading places in the country occupy over 2 million m2 and are still expanding, though the general distribution channels are still immature.

China's accession to the World Trade Organization should facilitate continued growth of the industry. It is predicted that the industry will undergo qualitative changes within the next ten years through consolidation, merges and specialisation.