The quality of furniture in China has been steadily increasing over the last few decades. Today, it is possible to buy furniture from China and ship internationally to countries like USA, Canada and Australia and still enjoy cheaper deals overall than if you were to buy from your own country.
This is why countless businesses and suppliers all around the world source their furniture products from China. Often, prices are a small fraction of what they would cost in their home countries and therefore there are huge profit margins to be made when buying furniture from China and selling them in your country or even to customers around the world.
With over 50,000 manufacturers making furniture in China, it is the largest location in the world for furniture manufacturing. The hub for furniture manufacturing in China is a city called Foshan in the southern province of Guangdong, which just borders Hong Kong.
China's furniture market mainly consists of the following areas:
Children’s Furniture
Bathroom Furniture
Bedroom Furniture
Living Rooms Furniture
Dining Room Furniture
Hotel Furniture
Office Furniture
Patio Furniture
Contract Furniture
Commercial Furniture
In China and especially Foshan, we can easily find manufactures covering these options and they are able to create furniture using the following materials:
Metal
Wicker
Plastic
Wood
Fabric
Leather
Marble
Most furniture manufacturers and factories in China are also very flexible and will be willing to custom-make your furniture for you according to you preferred color and design (OEM), especially if you will be buying in bulk.
Furniture fairs around China
In total there are 6 major international furniture fairs in China that you should take a look at. They are the following:
Shenzhen International furniture exhibition (SIFE) held at Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center from March 19th to 22nd, March. SIFE is a commercial design exhibition for China’s high-quality furniture industry
International famous furniture fair (3F), held at Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Centre from March 16th to March 20th. 3F mainly focuses on the China domestic market however it also has a 30,000 sqm Export Pavilion for export-oriented furniture producers
China international furniture fair (CIFF), held in China's import and export complex in Canton. From March 18th to March 21st (Phase one, for home furniture), March 28th to March 31st (Phase two, office furniture) China International Furniture Fair, known as CIFF, takes place twice a year in Guangzhou (March) and Shanghai (September).
International famous furniture fair (3F)-August 11th to 14th. Held in Dongguan
China International Furniture Fair (Shanghai)-National Exhibition & Convention Center (Shanghai • Hongqiao),10-13 September
China International Furniture Expo-September 11th to 14th (Shanghai • Pudong). CIFE is an export-oriented furniture fair for high-end furniture highlighted in contemporary furniture, international brand, and up-to-date designs.
A great place to start looking and sourcing for furniture from China is on Alibaba (www.alibaba.com), as many of the reputable furniture manufacturers are listed there. It also offers you a very wide range of selection and allows you to communicate directly with manufacturers so they can directly facilitate your specific needs and requirements.
Once you have decided which furniture you would like to purchase, what many factories and manufacturers on Alibaba will require from you is to have a shipping agent in China for them to send your goods to so that they can handle the international shipping. This is even more important if you are buying different furniture from multiple factories in China and looking to consolidate and ship them together internationally.
CNXtrans can act as your shipping agent when buying furniture from China and shipping internationally. Give the CNXtrans China warehouse address to your manufacturers for them to send your furniture to and CNXtrans will handle the international shipping for you.
What is the best way to ship furniture internationally from China?
Furniture is usually large, bulky and costly to ship by air. Therefore the best way to ship furniture from China would be by sea freight. For shipping to USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, UAE and South Africa, CNXtrans can ship your furniture from China to you by special sea freight channels on a door to door basis meaning the shipment will come inclusive of customs clearance service and delivery all the way to your address in your destination country. This saves you the hassle of having to hire a customs broker in your destination country.
For shipping to other countries, CNXtrans can still ship by sea freight for you to any major port in your destination country. You can then get a customs broker to assist you with the customs clearance and deliver to your address.
