The 45th China International Furniture Fair (Guangzhou) (CIFF Guangzhou 2020) will open its gates to welcome visitors from March 28 to 31, 2020 in Guangzhou. The Fair will include three trade shows focused on three market segments: Home Furniture/Home Décor/Outdoor Furniture, Office Furniture, and CIFM/Interzum Guangzhou. It is also set to debut the International Brand Hall in the Office Show. China’s Belt and Road Initiative could not have come at a better time for Asia’s largest and most comprehensive woodworking machinery, furniture production and interiors trade fair. The industry is booming and manufacturers are hungry for a coveted booth space at the event every year.
CIFM / interzum guangzhou is regarded by the industry as a key gateway for foreign furniture suppliers to enter the fast-growing China market and an ideal place to size up the competition. With Guangzhou being an important city for the Maritime Silk Road in the hinterland of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area as well as the center of South China’s furniture manufacturing powerhouse, a growing number of buyers from the region are expected to descend at the event from 2020 and beyond.
The “Belt and Road” wave
Riding on the opportunities brought about by China’s Belt and Road Initiative, economies along the trade route are stepping up in expanding markets and at the same time importing high-quality resources, products and technologies. The world’s leading producers of furniture raw and auxiliary materials are jumping onto the bandwagon by providing high-quality textiles, wood, woodworking machinery and furniture hardware for the global furniture manufacturing market.
The Initiative has also given impetus to alleviate logistical issues – one of the bottlenecks restricting the development of the industry – with rapid progress driven by China to establish and better infrastructure and connectivity.
Rise of custom furniture market
Spanning 5,000 square meters, the expanded Custom Furniture Suppliers zone in Hall 14.1 is dedicated to showcasing a host of products such as accessories for upholstered furniture, textiles, hardware components and panels.
The welcomed move came against the backdrop of stable growth rates of China’s custom furniture market at above 20 percent over the past seven years. 2018 saw an increase of 20.2 percent over the previous year to about US$41.4 billion. It is predicted that by 2020, the market size is expected to exceed US$48.5 billion.
At present, market penetration of custom furniture stands at a low 30 percent, compared with 60-70 percent in developed countries, like the U.S. and South Korea. As the concept matures among Chinese consumers, demand is expected to extend from the current custom cabinets and wardrobes to the entire house, paving the way for tremendous growth.
Insatiable demand for upholstered furniture
Yet another much-anticipated enhancement made to the 2020 edition is a newly segmented Hall 12.1 to center on machinery for upholstered furniture production. Some big names to be featured include Duerkopp, Adler, Mammut(Germany), Robatech(Switzerland) and Baomo.
