The Annual General Meeting of the World Furniture Confederation & World Furniture Industrial Clusters Conference kicked off in Guangdong’s Dongguan on August 17, after which the Dongguan International Design Week 2023 & International Famous Furniture Fair will be held from August 18 to 21.
（The Annual General Meeting of the World Furniture Confederation & World Furniture Industrial Clusters Conference/photo provided to GDToday)
The conference is themed “United Cooperation and Share Future” and attracted government officials, members of industrial associations, and entrepreneurs of international furniture brands from countries such as Italy, the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, and Portugal.
The Dongguan International Design Week 2023 & International Famous Furniture Fair covers an exhibition area of more than 650 thousand square meters, with over 1,000 furniture brands exhibiting products, including furniture, furniture materials, furnishings, outdoor living products, camping gear, and art toys.
Vice Mayor Xing Wenju of the Dongguan Municipal Government addressed that the conference aims to promote the construction of world-class furniture industrial clusters in Dongguan, which was announced in March 2023.
“The conference gathers furniture industry insiders globally. I hope that we can contribute splendid ideas to our goal through discussion and exchanges,” said Xing.
Xing introduced that Dongguan has advanced industrial clusters with more than 2000 furniture manufacturing enterprises. The city plans to increase its popularity worldwide and develop completed industrial chains, including home decor, furniture, household appliances, and smart home systems.
According to the Dongguan Government, there are over 300 furniture manufacturing enterprises above the designated size in Dongguan. The total industrial output value of furniture manufacturing in Dongguan reached 39.8 billion RMB in 2022. The furniture industrial chains are mature in terms of design and development, raw materials procurement, production and processing, wholesale, and retail.
The Houjie Town of Dongguan is well-known for its 5-kilometer-long "Furniture Avenue", which is a distribution base of furniture products, furniture-making machines, furniture materials, and furniture components.
In addition, service platforms such as Dongguan International Famous Furniture Design and Research Institute, China Dongguan (Furniture) Intellectual Property Services Centre, and Dongguan Quality Testing Centre are available in Dongguan.
Xu Xiangnan, Chairman of the World Furniture Confederation, said that China is the world's largest producer, exporter, and consumer of furniture, with about 73.1 billion USD of the total export value in 2022.
（Xu Xiangnan, Chairman of the World Furniture Confederation/photo provided to GDToday)
“The furniture industry needs deepening international cooperation for further growth，” said Xu. He believes that the global business competition will move its focus from enterprises, industries, and industrial chains toward the whole industrial ecosystem. It is necessary to develop industrial clusters as a way of manufacturing upgrades.
Casey Loo, Advisor of the World Furniture Confederation, said that he has been doing business with furniture manufacturers in Dongguan over the years, importing Chinese products and selling in ASEAN countries. He suggests enterprises improve innovation capability and manufacture products with higher value; otherwise, they may be phrased out in the markets. He also highlighted the new chances in e-commerce, where consumers can access globalized markets.
“The Polish furniture sector is very well-developed. We come here to promote Polish companies to Chinese partners. We are happy to meet lots of potential importers and distributors of furniture products and hope to help them establish cooperation with Polish companies,” Andrzej Juchniewicz, Chief Representative of the Polish Investment & Trade Agency, told GDToday at the conference.
The conference was hosted by China National Furniture Association and Dongguan Municipal People’s Government, and organized by Houjie Town People’s Government and Dalingshan Town People’s Government.
