The fair will be held from August 18 to 21. It is being co-sponsored by the China National Furniture Association and the China Foreign Trade Centre Group.

Total exhibition space will cover an area of 70,000 square meters, an increase of 28 per cent from a year ago and a record high compared with the same period in recent years, said Dai Xinguo, general manager of the China Foreign Trade Guangzhou Exhibition Corp, which is managing the fair.

Dai said the success of the past nine sessions has built up the reputation of the fair at home and abroad.

About 660 enterprises, including those based in Germany, the United States, France, Austria, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia as well as China's Hong Kong and Taiwan, will show off their latest home furniture products, office furniture, woodworking machinery, furniture accessories and decorative furnishings at the four-day event.

"With a growing number of Chinese becoming rich, market demand for high-class home furniture, including that of foreign brands, has been intensifying," Dai said.

Dai said the fair organizers have invited several established furniture makers to discuss the global furniture market and industry trends.

A home textile fair displaying curtains, bed coverings, upholstery fabrics and carpets will be held at the same time.

(China Daily August 7, 2002)