24th International Famous Furniture Fair Proves Highly Relevant Again

With China's emerging middle class gaining ever more spending power and aspiring to own homes, the furniture sector in the nation is capturing attention of global suppliers. And any market-sensitive furniture maker would be at the 24th International Famous Furniture Fair (Dongguan) or commonly called 3F, held Sept. 1-5, where the latest trends in China and predictions for 2011 are on display.

Around 80,000 trade buyers from home and abroad are in Houjie, a 126 square- kilometer town in Dongguan City in southern China, the Center of the Chinese furniture industry.

Some 935 exhibitors have filled 10 exhibition halls across 260,000 square meters, 500 of which are furniture makers and the rest supplying furniture woodworking machines and home furnishings.

The 24th 3F is introducing an array of new products as many of the exhibitors have invested heavily on product design and innovation; while for 2010 signs of resources integration is clearly emerging, with the low-carbon economy impacting furniture manufacturers in many ways. After debuting in the 23rd 3F in March 2010, bamboo furniture is catching on as a viable alternative to others of wood, especially when bamboo is the fastest growing and most versatile wood. This year's 3F includes The Second Bamboo Furniture and Materials Application Theme Exhibition, continuing a significant movement that is inspiring industry professionals.

Making its latest bid to lead the sector in China, the Dongguan Famous Furniture Association is debuting the China Famous Furniture Expo Park at this year's event.

More Variety and Creativity

Besides continuing the trend that started at the 23rd 3F, exhibitors this year are showing more variety and styles in solid wood furniture; while another highlight is the rising number of makers showing children's furniture, who are also more experienced in product development, branding and marketing.

More suppliers are also showing more creativity and adaptability. As they shift focus from export to the domestic Chinese market, the makers, tapping strengths in product design and quality control, have developed many products specifically made for the local market.

Kuka, a regular exhibitor at 3F, is officially unveiling its new name “Kuka Home,” as well as expanding its product line to include soft beds and bedroom products on top of its well-established sofa series. The newly-launched sofa beds are the flagship products that make Kuka Home a maker with a full line of home furnishings.

Resource Integration Continues

Visitors to Hall 2 may be awestruck by the extensive, new exhibitor Dadu Home, taking up over 1,000 square meters on the second floor. Actually not a single manufacturer, Dadu Home is set up by a coalition of over 10 companies, each with different product line ranging from solid wood furniture, panel furniture, metal and glass furniture to upholstery. Integrating the strengths and resources of each member enables the partnership to generate synergy in product design, branding, market research and capital.

Resource integration is being adopted by not only furniture producers but also makers of home accessories. For example, the “Home Decoration Village,” with exhibits from 9 suppliers, is a new part of the Dongguan Home Accents Fair, held alongside the 3F that also taps resources integration. The 9 companies are mutually complementary in product lines, thus creating a single entity with amplified effect generating enhanced market competitiveness.

Low-carbon Sensitive

“The goal behind holding 3F for the Dongguan Famous Furniture Association and Hong Kong Furniture Association is to serve the development needs of the furniture industry in China. And this is why 3F is always highly responsive to market changes and takes action to assist exhibitors to adapt to such changes,” said Ms. Fang Hui, Secretary General of Dongguan Famous Furniture Association.

“We feel the furniture industry has a role to play in a low carbon economy so we launched ‘Bamboo Products and Materials Application Theme Exhibition' in March this year. The show made the exhibitors, industry and society happy. So we are continuing this September,” Ms. Fang added.

The difference is there are more exhibitors this time, as well as more activities concurrent to the exhibition. One of the events is the “Bamboo Furniture and Materials Application Summit” attended by experts from the China Academy of Forestry and producers of bamboo products. Among the speakers are two designers from Denmark.

To offer substantial help to the development of bamboo furniture, the Dongguan Famous Furniture Design and Research Institute will set up the “Bamboo Material Application Research Center” with support from the Dongguan city government.

Famous Furniture Expo Park

After years of preparation, Houjie is officially launching the Famous Furniture Expo Park as the town's latest bid to further build its presence in the global furniture market.

The Park is to be built close to the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center, where the International Famous Furniture Fair (3F) is held twice a year. Upon completion, the project will span 1 million square meters with another 1,000 acres of land reserved for further development. Phase 1 of the project includes an office tower, showrooms and stores, which are scheduled to open in March 2012.

The Famous Furniture Expo Park is an example of the “Dongguan Mode” concept promoted by the Dongguan Famous Furniture Association, a very active and powerful association in China as well as the organizer of 3F, whose idea is to continue the strength of regular trade shows, which normally last 4 or 5 days, into the year-round furniture showrooms.

Both local and international brands are expected to benefit from the Park. “Their products will go from Houjie to every corner of China,” said Ms. Fang, brimming of confidence.

The next or 25th 3F will be held Sept. 1-5, 2011. Go to www.3f.net.cn/e for more information.