HOUJIE, China - Plenty of signs are revealed in the 22nd International Famous Furniture Fair (Dongguan) held from 4th - 8th September 2009 that Chinese furniture industry is embarking on a new journey leading to another round of development. Spanning over a space of 240,000 square meters in 9 exhibition halls, 840 exhibitors from Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and overseas countries showcased their latest products. A total of 68,000 visitors visited the 5-day event and among them close to 5,000 came from overseas countries.

The 22nd 3F is put under a test being held in a very special timing when there is a general belief in the market that the world economy is turning for the better after it has undergone a slowdown for over a year. To the delight of the Chinese furniture community, 3F delivered a show with plenty of signs that the furniture industry in China has survived the impact and is well prepared for the upcoming economy recovery.

"I believe the worst time has passed for Chinese furniture manufacturers," commented Mr. Yin Chengzhi, the President of Dongguan Famous Furniture Association, one of the organizers of 3F. "Besides the fact that the world economy is showing signs of recovery, another important reason is the robust Chinese domestic market, which proved to be the saver for many firms, especially those who are so used to depend on international orders."

Exhibitors at 3F has demonstrated to the visitors their extraordinary capabilities of handling crisis. Different measures are taken by the exhibiting companies to strengthen their competiveness by improving product designs, customer services and establishing better relationship with retailers.

Successwow Furniture (www.sdrihui.com) is a company specialized in solid wood furniture and is a loyal exhibitor at 3F. Launched at this September 3F and received extensive genuine interests from buyers is a brand new collection which is a result of 3 years hard work of thorough market research and dozens of refinements of design by the in-house design team.

Huawei Furniture(www.huaweigroup.com) launched two new collections at this 3F. Instead of limiting the design to its own design team, the company collected improving suggestion from its retailers and this leads to dozens of modification of the original design and the result is two collections that have been tested and improved even before making their debut in the show. From the response the company received during the show, the efforts were happily paid off.

Fine Arts Furniture (www.vineartgallery.com.cn) is a company specialized in rattan furniture products. A line of light colored rattan products is launched at this 3F after extensive market research as a way to ¡°differentiate from the competitors whose products are generally dark color¡±.

  "Most of the exhibitors at 3F have realized the importance of product design and attached greater importance to it. I, and every other judge, can see a clear improvement in the exhibits in terms of design," commented Professor Zhen Jianxi, a judge of 3F' s Best Stand and Exhibit Award judging panel. "This is really a good sign, although it makes our selection process much more difficult now because the quality of exhibits are at almost the same level from many of the exhibitors."

While some exhibitors put a lot of efforts on refining their products, others focused on building a harmonious relationship with their dealers, which is believed to help lay a solid foundation for the healthy development of furniture industry in China in the future. The financial crisis has certainly brought challenges to furniture manufacturers in China, but it at the same time has provided a chance for the manufacturers to really sit back and think for way to the future. In face of difficulties, manufacturers came to realize the importance of retailers to their business.

"We want our retailers to be able to make longer and bigger profits to consolidate a stronger relationship with us," said Mr. Zhu, the Manager of Home Young Furniture (www.xhy.com.cn). "To do so, we focus on improving the quality of our products and through the use of different materials to give the products best value-quality ratio to win the loyalty of end consumers and thus to help the retailers to sell".

"Long term healthy relationship is what we are trying to establish with my retailers," said Mr. Mo Huiming, Manager of Zhejiang Moxia Furniture (www.chinamoxia.com). "Furniture dealers and retailers are more rational, they need not only the products to be good value, but also good quality and with good services too. So we constantly review our services rendered to our retailers and make sure they are well taken care of. Further to that, we provide practical trainings to them. We touch upon not only sales techniques, but also knowledge on macro economic analyzes and furniture trade knowledge etc. Our retailers love what we are doing. As a matter of fact, many of the new customers visiting us during this show were brought in by our existing customers.

Understanding the needs of furniture manufacturers for design, the organizers geared up to create several key events, including "Retailers of the Year Award¡± and "New Design Generation". "The organizing team of 3F has been working hard to create a show that will 'help to pull this industry back to track fast' and I believe we have fulfilled out commitment," said Ms. Fang Hui, the Secretary General of Dongguan Famous Furniture Association with a happy smile.

Retailers of the Year Award
The first "Retailers of the Year Award" was presented on the night of 3 September witnessed by 800 guests of retailers, furniture associations, furniture manufacturers, trade media in China. Launched in March this year, the Award received huge support from major furniture malls, furniture manufacturers, industry media. In a time span of 6 months, 120 winners were selected by an experienced judging panel after 3 rounds of selection from 2,700 nominees.

"By holding this event, we hope to generate wide attention for the industry to furniture dealers and retailers." Commented Mr Yin Chenzhi, the President of Dongguan Famous Furniture Association, "We believe this will help the industry to grow sustainably".

This sentiment is echoed by Mr. Zeng Zhenyu, the President of Senka Home Furnishings Group (www.senka.com.cn), one of the judge of the Award. "Retailers of the Year Award is an event of great significance. The development of furniture industry in China has a lot to do with a strong sales network. I hope this event will be held every year."

New Design Generation

In order to provide a formal platform where furniture companies can improve their competitiveness by joining hands with truly gifted designers, the organizer has been striving to introduce outstanding designers from both at home and abroad to the audience attending 3F. At the September Fair, the New Design Generation event is yet another design oriented event.

Held in collaboration with Pigreco Studio from Italy, the International Famous Furniture Design & Development Center and the Show Organizer invited 16 gifted young designers from 14 countries around the world. A range of events were created for Chinese manufacturers to meet with this group of designers. To most of the designers, NDG event provided them a face-to-face opportunity to understand China.

"From what I see in the past few days, the way Chinese furniture manufacturers run their factories are no different than those in the west. The factories are clear, well organized and the working conditions are good. It is very different from what I have read about China," said Mr. Nick Rennie, a designer from Australia. "I can see from those manufacturers that I have met, there are genuine interests of them to invest in design and they are very open. This is a very good thing for international designers."

The biggest highlight in the September 3F is no other but the launch of "Dongguan Home Accents Center", a permanent home accents shopping mall run in an unique business mode - "Exhibition Plus Retail". During the show days of 3F, the Center serves as the venue for "Dongguan Home Accents Fair", an concurrent event of 3F, while in the rest of the year, the Center opens to retail.

Spanning over a space of 40,000 square meters, the Home Accents Center, located in Furniture Road Houjie Town Dongguan City, is the first large and professional home decorations marketplace in Dongguan. It boasts of large size, good infrastructure, complete services and favorable geographical location. 

"We see there is a great demand from furniture manufactures for high quality accessories products," said Mr. Jacky Fang, the Deputy Secretary General of Dongguan Famous Furniture Association, "The opening of the Center aims to meet this demand and serve more than 3,000 furniture manufacturers in Dongguan area. We believe what we are doing today is to complete a industry chain which will certainly help the industry to grow".

The 23rd 3F will be held from 16th -  20th March 2010. For more information, please visit www.3f.net.cn/e