The China (Lecong) International Furniture Fair, expected to be held between April 26 and 30, will be jointly sponsored by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Light Industrial Products and Handicraft, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade's Guangdong branch and the Shunde city government.

Shunde has already held two furniture fairs in the past two years.

China has witnessed a rapid development in its furniture industry, but it still has much work to do in building a global reputation, said Wang Zhongqi, deputy president of the national chamber of commerce.

"The April event is expected to create a platform for the exchange of furniture designing, technologies, and the global market information, and in the end to help hone the competitive edge of China's furniture industry in the world market," he said.

Official statistics show that the nation's furniture exports were worth US$5 billion in 2002.

Guangdong Province accounts for more than half of China's annual furniture exports.

Shunde Vice-Mayor Liu Zhixing said the upcoming furniture fair will give a further impetus to the city's furniture industry, which has already become one of its core industries.

Shunde rakes in an annual sales volume of 30 billion yuan (US$3.61 billion) from the furniture sector and exports surpass well over 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) each year.

The city has become one of the country's largest bases for manufacturing furniture, related coatings and woodwork machinery, as well as one of China's largest markets for related raw materials and accessories.

Shunde has more than 2,700 enterprises manufacturing furniture, more than 800 enterprises manufacturing furniture coatings, more than 700 enterprises manufacturing woodwork machines and some 500 enterprises manufacturing ironware for furniture. Most of them are located in Lecong Town.

(China Daily January 13, 2003)