China International Furniture Fair (Guangzhou)-CIFF 2009

The 23rd China International Furniture Fair (Guangzhou)-CIFF was held from March 18-21, 2009 at the China Import & Export Fair Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou. This year along with CIFF the China Outdoor & Leisure Fair, Homedecor & Housewares China, the China International Ceramics Exhibition and the China Kitchen Furniture and Appliance Fair were also held. This combined organization of events indicated towards pitting for better export oriented markets. The event was organized in a grand exhibition format covering about 500,000 sqm out of which, almost 240,000 sqm was devoted exclusively to furniture industry. In addition to this from March 27 to 30 the venue also hosted a show on office furniture and woodworking. In the next session, the 24th CIFF, to be held on September 6th-9th, 2009 at China Import & Export Fair Complex, the same format would be used emphasizing the exhibition marketing principle of “Export Orientation” along with the “Domestic Market Expansion”. The well-known “Asia’s Furniture Sourcing Center” would continue to offer the furniture industrial players the professional platform for multifunction like trading, exhibiting, communicating and other related activities.

The organizers of the event were China National Furniture Association, China Foreign Trade Center (Group), Guangdong Furniture Association and Hong Kong Furniture & Decoration Trade Association. The co-organizers of the event were Guangzhou Furniture Association, Beijing Furniture Trade Association, Shunde Furniture Association, Zhongshan Furniture Trade Association and Dongguan Furniture Association. The event was hosted by China Foreign Trade Guangzhou Exhibition Corp. It was supported by Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Taiwan Furniture Manufacturer' Association.

Better Results Reported for the Chinese Markets:
CIFF 2009’s emphasis on exports was evident when thirty-four famous brands from abroad appeared in the overseas exhibition hall. Their percentage was 50% higher than the March fair in 2008. These companies come from the United States, Spain, Australia, France, Holland, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, India, and other countries. This greatly improved the internationalization potential of CIFF. Chinese furniture has always adhered to traditional designs and stuck to traditional in the contemporary times also. Chen Baoguang, Executive Vice President of the China National Furniture Association, outlined this when he said, “We don’t really have any original designs, but products designed by Zhu Xiaojie can give us a glimpse of the concept of originality. Actually, the style of Chinese furniture dates back to Tang and Song dynasties and this design is stable because classics are everlasting.” At the same time when the efforts to internationalize the event were on it was seen that the home markets performed better at the fair and came out producing better results for themselves. Tian Meixin, Sales Director of Royal Furniture Holding Ltd. (HK) and Liu Qichao, General Manager of Kinwai Furniture Decoration Co., Ltd were both of the unanimous opinion, “The depression of international markets recently has made the industry turn their focus to the domestic market, which has resulted in new cooperation between buyers and exhibitors. As of 3pm, March 20th, the deal volume is slightly better than that of the Sept. fair last year.” This view was also endorsed by Gou Wenbin, PR Manager of Lanbond Furniture Group when he expressed satisfaction on 30% increase in the number of potential customers for his products.

New Features at the Show:
This year the CIFF featured the “Finland Modern Furniture Design and Office Space” show. The event was jointly sponsored by the China National Furniture Association, the China Foreign Trade Guangzhou Exhibition Corp. and organized by the Shanghai AVARTE Furniture Company. This event consisted of three parts: a design works show, an academic forum and a banquet. Guests and officials along with research and business representatives from China, Finland and Germany were present at this exhibition of Finnish design. Also present were officials from the Finnish Furniture Association, businessmen from famous enterprises and well-known designer Yrjo Kukkapuro and his twelve dedicated students.

This show was considered as an amalgamation point for two generations spanning fifty years, of Scandinavian designers. This event was organized to strengthen communication between businessmen, designers and officials in the three countries and offer new opportunities for the Chinese furniture industry.

This blending between instating internationalization and retention of conventional sort of generated an irony the long-term results of which remain to be unveiled in the future events.

Next show will be September 27th to 30th, 2009 at the same venue. 

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