According to the China National Furniture Association the value of China’s furniture imports in 2017 rose 16% to US$3.052 billion, a record high for the past ten years. The cities accounting for the highest level of consumption of imported furniture were Shanghai, Guangdong, Beijing, Jiangsu and Tianjin.

The value of furniture imports through Shanghai and Guangdong grew 35% and 17% respectively and these two account for over 50% of total national furniture imports. Analysts write that the driving force behind the rise in furniture imports was the significant growthin domestic furniture production costs.

Prices for all inputs into furniture such as timber, steel, foam, leather, adhesives and hardware are continuing to rise. For example prices for foam skyrocketed 70% and prices for leather jumped 30% in 2017. Furthermore, logistic and labour costs have increased sharply and the recently introduced environmental protection regulations have pushed up production costs.

Analysts expect China’s furniture imports will continue to increase over the coming years and note that the pace growth of furniture imports is higher than that of furniture exports.

China’s furniture industry continues to grow at a relatively high level in terms of domestic production. There were about 6,000 major furniture manufacturing enterprises in 2017, an increase of 439 compared with the previous year.

The turnover of the top furniture manufacturing enterprises in 2017 topped RMB906 billion.

(Source:ihb.de)