Wooden Furniture from China｜Everything You Need to ...

Wooden furniture from China

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With the continuous development of economic globalization and the deepening of trade liberalization, the scale of China's manufacturing industry is increasing year by year, especially represented by labor-intensive industries. Wooden Furniture Industry is a typical example. In 2005, China surpassed Italy for the first time and became the largest exporter of wooden furniture in the world, with an annual growth rate of about 30%. China's wooden furniture has been exported to more than 100 countries or regions, across all continents.

Wooden furniture from China is popular with people for its high quality, excellent technology and beautiful shape.

7 characteristics of wooden furniture from China

1.Symmetrical structure

In Chinese decoration, furniture design pay attention to symmetry, and so is wooden furniture. This is influenced by the Chinese traditional doctrine of  balance and symmetry. Therefore, the shape of Chinese wooden furniture is mostly symmetrical, such as square, circle, polygon and so on. In any case, they are extremely symmetrical and coordinated.

2.Hollowedout or carved decoration

For Chinese wooden furniture in classic style, its shape is hollow or wood carving, reflecting China's simplicity and elegance. Chinese elements, such as ceramics, flowers and Chinese characters, which are also commonly carved on the Chinese wooden furniture.

3.Strict material selection

Chinese wooden furniture also pays more attention to the selection of materials. Usually, the most natural wood is selected, and then waxing, oil cleaning and other methods are used when making furniture, so that the natural texture and tone of the wood itself can be fully displayed in front of everyone. At the same time, because these materials come from nature, they reflect the harmonious relationship between man and the environment and give people a sense of intimacy.

4.Unique workmanship

In the structural part, Chinese wooden furniture is used to connect with tenon and mortise structure. It can be made almost without using an iron nail or other parts, making the furniture firm and beautiful.

5.Long service life

Considering that Chinese wooden furniture pays great attention to technology in the production process, and also has a certain degree of environmental protection, the use of relevant chemical items is relatively small. Its surface only needs to be polished to have strong luster. Therefore, the service life of its furniture can reach more than 20 years in most cases.

6.High preservation function

Furniture made of precious wood can not only bring natural flavor to the living environment, but also let residents experience the luxury and wealth brought by high-quality wood. And like this kind of wood, their texture is more natural and rich. With the passage of time, on the basis of paying attention to maintenance, it also has a certain collection and preservation function.

7.Environmental protection and health

Chinese wooden furniture reveals the beauty of nature and primitive. The reasons for its long-term prosperity lie in its natural color from the color analysis. From the material analysis, it selects pure natural materials. From the analysis of the production process, the use of related chemical items is relatively small. Therefore, it is relatively healthy and environmentally friendly, which is very in line with the psychological needs of modern people to advocate nature.

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4 methods to distinguish high quality wooden furniture

1.Smell and judge the properties of wood

Most wood has its fragrance, pine has rosin flavor, camphor wood has obvious camphor flavor, but fiberboard and density board will have strong pungent smell, especially in cabinet doors or drawers.

2.Look and observe the quality of wood

The main stress-bearing parts of wooden furniture, such as columns and load-bearing bars near the ground between connecting columns, shall not have large knots or cracks. The frame shall not be loose, broken tenon and material cutting are not allowed.

3.Touch and check the polishing quality

Put your hand on the surface of the wooden furniture and carefully check whether the polished surface is smooth, especially pay attention to whether the platform foot and other parts are rough, whether there are streaks in the paint painting, whether the paint at the corner is too thick, and whether there are cracks or bubbles.

4.Listen and check the stability

Wooden furniture should have safety and stability. For example, when the two cabinet doors are opened 90 degrees, gently pull forward by hand, and the cabinet body cannot automatically tilt forward. Small pieces of wooden furniture such as chairs, stools, clothes hangers, etc. can be tapped by hand when selecting. If the sound is crisp, it indicates that the furniture production quality is good; if the voice is low, then the tenon joint is not tight.

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World market of wooden furniture from China

China has become the world's largest exporter of wooden furniture, and the amount of export is far greater than that of import.

After 2004, China overtook Italy to become the world's largest exporter of wooden furniture. According to the statistics of China Customs, in 2017, the export amount of China's wooden furniture was 92.732 billion yuan and the import amount was 6.034 billion yuan, which was much greater than the import amount.

Data from https://bg.qianzhan.com/

China's kitchen wooden furniture exports grow fastest.

Among China's wooden furniture exports, other types of wooden furniture account for the largest proportion, followed by wooden bedroom furniture, wooden kitchen furniture and wooden office furniture. In 2017, the export categories of bedroom, kitchen, office and other wooden furniture accounted for 26.22%, 16.26%, 7.67% and 49.85% respectively.

From 2009 to 2017, the average annual growth rate of other types of wooden furniture was - 0.35%, that of wooden bedroom furniture was 9.22%, that of wooden kitchen furniture was 10.49%, and that of wooden office furniture was 2.57%. Among these four types of products, the fastest export growth was wooden kitchen furniture, while that of other types of wooden furniture was the smallest.

Data from https://bg.qianzhan.com/

Data from https://bg.qianzhan.com/

China's main exporter of wooden furniture is the United States.

China’s wooden furniture has been exported to more than 100 countries and regions in the world. At present, the main export markets of China’s wooden furniture are the United States, the European Union, Japan and other countries. In 2017, China's main export market was the United States, with an export amount of US $5.288 billion, accounting for 38.52%, followed by Hong Kong, China, with an export amount of US $1.103 billion, accounting for 8.04%.

Data from https://bg.qianzhan.com/

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4 reasons for importing wooden furniture from China

First, compared with the original three major exporters of wooden furniture- Italy, Germany and Denmark, China has a better price advantage, which is mainly due to China's lower labor cost.

Second, after China's accession to the WTO, trade liberalization has been deepened, which is convenient for Chinese furniture manufacturers to export products; In addition, the encouragement of Chinese policies also enables manufacturers to develop in a better environment.

Third, China's wooden furniture industry is gradually standardized, and the quality has been internationally recognized to a certain extent.

Fourth, the injection of foreign capital has accelerated the development and growth of China's furniture industry, exposed China's wooden furniture industry to foreign advanced technology, and quickly connected with international standards.

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China’s top 6 wood materials for wooden furniture 

Wood used for furniture is slightly different from wood used for other purposes such as construction. Furniture is not as big as a house, which allows the use of special wood types. The followings are some of the best wood types that Chinese furniture manufacturers tend to use in the production process.

1.Oak

Oak is one of the most popular raw materials in the wooden furniture industry.It has elegant color, beautiful texture and concave convex texture on the touch surface. It has excellent toughness and can be processed into various bending shapes according to needs, which is quite aesthetic. It is also fine and dense, and there are many fillers in the pipe hole, which is not easy to absorb water and resistant to corrosion. It has solid texture, firm structure and long service life.

Main uses：

Oak can be used to make any type of furniture, from oak bedroom furniture and sofa to wardrobe and kitchen cabinet. It is also widely used in decoration materials, flooring materials and so on. Besides,the porosity of oak allows wine stored in oak barrels to evaporate and oxidize to a certain extent, but it will not cause wine deterioration. The phenols in oak react with wine to produce aroma and sweetness, so it is often used to store red wine.

2.Mahogany

The color of mahogany is deep, reflecting the antique style, which is used for traditional furniture. It has heavy wood, hard material, high strength, wear resistance and good quality. At the same time, it is malleable and can be skillfully bent to create all kinds of art furniture, which will certainly change any interior space. However, it is not cheap. Anyone who has bought mahogany products will prove how expensive they are, but they make up for all this with exquisite and elegant appearance and long life.

Main uses：

It is the type of wood material you use to create traditional furniture style. It can be used to make beds, seats, wardrobes, dressers and many other furniture commonly used in families.

3.Black walnut

The cut surface of black walnut wood is smooth, soft luster, light black brown with purple, and the cut surface is a beautiful large parabola pattern. Black walnut is resistant to impact, friction, decay, easy to dry and less deformation; Easy to construct and glue. The shrinkage is very small, which makes it suitable for changeable climate environment without cracking and other problems. In addition, other wood can absorb oil coating less than black walnut. These unique features make the value of black walnut high.

Main uses：

Black walnut wood is commonly used for flat/ rotary cut veneer, furniture, paneling, cabinet, etc.

4.Cherry wood

Cherry wood is a high-grade wood. It is a kind of dense wood with strong resistance to water and physical damage. The bending property is very good, and the impact strength are medium. Its uniqueness lies in its aging process. When new, the color is usually bright pink, but with the passage of time and frequent use of furniture, it will gradually turn reddish brown with a trace of luster. The older they get, the more valuable they become.

Main uses：

As a heavy wood,cherry wood is very suitable for those huge cherry wooden furniture that acts as a central decoration in the home and office. Cherry wood has fine and clear grain, good polishing and good coating effect. It is suitable for high-grade household products, such as parquet floor, pipe, musical instrument, desk, bed, seat and cabinet. It is also particularly suitable for making sculptures. If you like the appearance of retro furniture, cherry wood is what you should look for.

5.Maple

In terms of appearance, maple is the most beautiful wood type in your furniture. Maple wood is light but hard, with interlaced textures . The color is between light brown and medium brown. They look very good. You don't even need to add any form of coating or additional color to them. They look amazing in the natural state.

Main uses：

Texture pattern is an advantage making maple an ideal raw material for all kinds of furniture around the house, especially tableware and other furniture completely made of wood without adding any type of cushion. The most common uses of maple include kitchen and bedroom cabinets, wardrobes, seats and tables, as well as beds and dressers.

6.Pine

Pine is one of the most widely distributed tree species in the world. Many log furniture use pine. In the process of making pine furniture, it is rarely modified manually, and the branches leave natural knots. When making furniture, it can better show the authenticity, simplicity and natural beauty of the materials. The price of pine is also very appropriate, and its growth cycle is short, so it belongs to a kind of sustainable wood. It is cheap, environmentally friendly and has strong nail holding force, widely used as the panel of wood furniture.

Main uses：

This kind of wood has been used in the furniture industry for a long time, and is very suitable for the country furniture style used in the home and office environment. However, considering the characteristics of pine - soft wood, any thin, high, narrow and long furniture is not suitable for pine. But some small furniture or fixed furniture can use pine, such as bookcases, desks, drawers and other small furniture that do not need to bear too much weight.

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3 main styles of wooden furniture from China

With the help of modern wood technology, you can get many choices of shapes and colors. Let's learn more about the most interesting styles of Chinese wooden furniture today. Of course, start with the memorable traditional style.

1.Traditional style

Chinese traditional wooden furniture is very respected and always receives attention. Usually, this is a huge and magnificent furniture made of precious wood such as oak, cedar, walnut, larch and cherry. It can be accompanied by various decorative details, giving people a particularly exquisite feeling. Chinese traditional furniture is usually made of brown. People think that the darker the color, the better. For rooms with large area and good lighting, it is best to choose such furniture. This furniture looks great in the spacious living room, bedroom, kitchen, office and hall.

Noble wooden furniture is usually not cheap. However, if you choose a more modest decision, you can always choose a more affordable choice. The traditional concise version, made in a strict form, is more affordable than furniture with exquisitely carved and gold-plated elements. If your budget allows, you can also decorate your home or studio with traditional wooden furniture purchased in Chinese antique stores - it can create incredible charm and emphasize your high taste.

2.Country style

The so-called country style for Chinese wooden furniture is most suitable for places close to nature, such as private houses and country villas. Whether you live in a spacious mansion or a small country villa, the country style will bring unusual comfort to your home. It is believed that only the kitchen can be arranged in a similar style. But designers have long eliminated this misunderstanding. Today, in the country style, you can successfully decorate the interior of any residential building. In addition, this style may vary according to the national traditions of the country / region where you live.

The country style is characterized by the greatest degree of nature and simplicity, clear lines, lack of pretentiousness and luxury, and natural color. Such furniture is deliberately carried out in a rough form, and there is no round form and actually no processing. Sometimes, country style wooden furniture will be deliberately "spoiled" to artificially age and make it look dilapidated. Usually this style involves no painting, although wooden furniture can be painted. In most cases, these are dark tones, mainly brown. Sometimes several tones are used.

3.Ecological style

This style is somewhat similar to the country one. Its uniqueness also lies in its maximum proximity to nature and environmental friendliness, which corresponds to the name of the style. However, different from the country style, ecological wooden furniture is usually made in a more complex and flowing form, which looks light and elegant. If dark color can be used in country style, light color is the characteristic of ecological style. This kind of wooden furniture is usually not painted, but it can be impregnated or polished by special natural methods. Eco style upholstered furniture is only wrapped in natural lightweight materials made of cotton and linen.

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5 maintenance tips for wooden furniture

Wood fiber contains a certain amount of water, which will be continuously adjusted according to the humidity in the air . In the environment with high humidity, it will absorb water and cause expansion; In a dry environment, moisture will be released, resulting in shrinkage.

If you plan to buy wooden furniture, the maintenance work must be done. Let's take a look at the 5 tips for the maintenance of wooden furniture to make it stay with you longer.

1.Reduce dust exposure

Never underestimate the impact of dust on wooden furniture. If the wooden furniture cannot be cleaned regularly, it is easy to accumulate dust in small gaps, which will affect the appearance of furniture.Besides,small dust will also affect the service life of your furniture. Under normal circumstances, wax the wooden furniture once a quarter, so that the furniture looks more shiny, the surface is not easy to absorb dust, and it is easier to clean up.

2.Daily cleaning

If there is no roughness or scratch on the surface of wooden furniture, use clean soft cotton cloth, stick wood wax oil, and wipe the furniture surface evenly along the wood grain. For the surplus wax oil remaining on the surface, take another piece of clean soft cotton cloth and clean it along the wood grain. However, excessive friction should be avoided in the whole cleaning process to reduce damage to wood and prolong service life.

3.Avoid direct sunlight

Wooden furniture shall be protected from long-term exposure to outdoor sunlight as far as possible. It is best to place it away from the sunlight, or use transparent tulle curtains to separate direct sunlight. Because under long-term light, ultraviolet light will cause small cracks on the furniture coating surface, or lead to the blackening and fading of wooden furniture.

4.Maintain humidity balance

Wet swelling and dry cracking are the natural properties of wood. In a humid environment, wood absorbs water and expands, which is easy to cause problems such as difficult opening and closing of some cabinet doors and drawers. Specific operation methods, such as furniture placed against the wall, should keep a certain ventilation distance from the wall. A simpler way is to put desiccant directly in the drawer and cabinet to absorb moisture.

On the other hand,in winter, if your family is used to using the heater, it is best to place the wooden furniture 1 meter away from the heater to avoid long-term hot baking, resulting in local dry crack, bending deformation and local deterioration of the paint film.

​​​5.Avoid scratches

If there are scratches on wooden furniture, it will not only affect the beauty of furniture, but also affect its service life . Therefore, in the process of use, we should try to avoid damage caused by direct contact between hard or metal objects and furniture. If there is a small scratch accidentally, you can choose a wax strip similar to the color of furniture wood to smear the scratch and fill the crack. Then wax the area again to maintain gloss.​​

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Top 10 brands for wooden furniture from China

1.Huafeng Furniture

Location: Dalian,Liaoning province

Main Products: wooden furniture including bed,wardrobe,cabinet,sofa,table,desk,chair,bookcase,

dresser,door,staircase

Style: traditional style,retro style

Materials: wood

Huafeng Furniture Group ,founded in 1952, is a trusted brand of Chinese wood furniture customization. With a registered capital of US $20 million, the company covers an area of 6 square kilometers, has 20 factories and more than 12000 employees.

Huafeng has introduced more than 5000 production equipment at home and abroad, with a total production capacity of more than 10 million pieces. Huafeng has a world furniture raw material storage base in China, with an annual turnover of 300000 square meters. Huafeng furniture implements the idea of "striving for zero defective rate" into the employees' ideas.

Picture from official website of  Huafeng Furniture

2.Landbond Furniture

Location: Foshan,Guangdong province

Main Products: furniture including bed,wardrobe,cabinet,sofa,table,desk,chair,bookcase,dresser,

mattress

Style: modern style,ecological style, traditional style

Materials: wood ,fabric,leather

Landbond Furniture Group began in 1984 and rooted in national culture. It is a private furniture enterprise with leading design, combination of manufacturing and commercial , and common development in domestic and foreign markets. It is also the bearer of China's national home brand.

Landbond integrates future lifestyle research and product R & D, creative design and ingenuity, and launches generation after generation of products with international style and oriental characteristics. The domestic market network has covered 100% of the primary and secondary cities, and the international market covers more than 100 countries and regions around the world, forming a multi-level and all-round network system.

Picture from official website of  Landbond Furniture

3.Nanyang Hoo’s Furniture

Location: Tianjin

Main Products: wooden furniture including bed,wardrobe,cabinet,sofa,table,desk,chair,bookcase,
dresser

Style: traditional style, modern style

Materials: wood ,fabric,leather

Nanyang Hoo’s Furniture Manufacturing Co., Ltd. originated in 1993 and has focused on high-end  wooden whole house customization for 29 years, providing consumers with exclusive healthy home solutions and serving tens of millions of homes across the country.

Since the establishment of Hoo’s brand, it has always adhered to the concept of innovation and leadership, adhered to the brand vision of "quality lifestyle supplier", strictly selected local high-quality raw materials, design and R & D, process and technology resources, and is committed to providing users with healthy, environmental friendly and calm wooden furniture.

Picture from official website of  Nanyang Hoo’s Furniture

4.Huari Furniture

Location: Langfang,Hebei province

Main Products: wooden furniture including bed,wardrobe,cabinet,sofa,table,desk,chair,bookcase,

dresser

Style: traditional style,country style,modern style

Materials: wood,fabric,leather

Huari's 50 years of persistence has witnessed the extraordinary of every piece of furniture, from a screw to the splicing of every gap. It has strict requirements. Any part dares to accept the internal inspection of sawing wood. Huari introduces high-quality imported logs with a growth period of nearly 100 years. From the log entering the factory to sawing and drying, to the fully closed spraying of paint, and then to the finished products, the whole process is controlled to ensure the quality.

The products are sold to China, the United States, Australia, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Russia and other countries in the world. More than 2 million families are using Huari’s products every day, and 2400 families are selecting Huari’s products.

Picture from official website of  Huari Furniture

5.Guangming Furniture

Location: Yichun,Heilongjiang province

Main Products: wooden furniture including bed,wardrobe,cabinet,sofa,table,desk,chair,bookcase,

dresser

Style: traditional style,modern style,country style

Materials: wood,fabric,leather

In 1985, Yichun Guangming Furniture Co., Ltd., the predecessor of Guangming Group, was born in Yichun City, which is known as the "forest capital of the motherland" and "hometown of Korean pine". There is the largest original Korean pine forest in the world, with a forest coverage rate of 82.2%. Yichun faces Russia across the river, where vast forests are one of the few timber export places in the world. Yichun's unique geographical location, high-quality resource reserves and good natural environment provide conditions for the prosperity of the furniture industry.

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Guangming has more than 1700 advanced woodworking machinery and equipment in the world, with an annual dry wood of 60000 cubic meters. It has more than 10 production lines such as bedroom, study, restaurant, kitchen and office. It selects imported and domestic high-quality oak, ash, elm, rubber, birch and pine, and produces more than 10 series and more than 1500 varieties of furniture products every year.

Picture from official website of  Guangming Furniture

6.Huahe Furniture

Location: Qiqihar , Heilongjiang province

Main Products: furniture including bed,wardrobe,cabinet,sofa,table,desk,chair,bookcase,dresser,

door,wall panel

Style: traditional style,modern style

Materials: wood,fabric,leather

Huahe Group was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province.  It is a large-scale backbone enterprise in China's household building materials industry. For many years, Huahe has been committed to introducing the world's leading woodworking equipment and technology, and has taken the lead in the industry.

Huahe products have been sold in China, Europe, the United States, and Japan for more than 30 years, and have successfully served more than 4 million high-grade families around the world, and have been supported and recognized by consumers at home and abroad. The best-selling products of Huahe Group in developed countries and regions represent Chinese culture's understanding of the world and the world's recognition of Chinese culture.

Picture from official website of  Huahe Furniture

7.Tintan Furniture

Location: Beijing

Main Products: wooden furniture including bed,wardrobe,cabinet,sofa,table,desk,chair,bookcase,

dresser and door & window products,commercial furniture

Style: modern style, traditional style, retro style

Materials: wood,fabric,leather

Established in 1956, Tintan Furniture Co., Ltd. is currently the only state-owned holding enterprise among the above-scale enterprises in the home furnishing industry. The company has nearly 2,000 employees, with a registered capital of 1.67 billion yuan, and total assets of more than 3.3billion yuan.

The current product system of Tintan Furniture covers government affairs, business classics and modern office furniture, solid wood, panel, whole house customization, software, metal and other civil homes, wood and aluminum door and window products, mahogany furniture and cultural and creative products. Tintan Furniture is a professional furniture enterprise with abundant product types, diversified business types and complete industrial chain in the industry.

Picture from official website of  Tintan Furniture

8.Nanaholy Furniture

Location: Yiwu,Zhejiang province

Main Products: wooden furniture including bed,wardrobe,cabinet,sofa,table,desk,chair,bookcase,

dresser

Style:traditional style, retro style

Materials: wood,fabric

Nanaholy Furniture (International) Group Co., Ltd., founded in 1989, has two production bases in Zhejiang province, covering a total area of 620000 square meters. It is the largest R & D and production base of Chinese furniture in China ."Nanaholy" brand products have four series and more than 1000 specifications and varieties. All of them are made of high-quality mahogany and precious wood imported from Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa through more than 60 processes.

Nanaholy has established a number of wood and panel supply and processing bases in Southeast Asia and Africa, providing reliable raw material guarantee for furniture production. The distribution network is all over the country, and the products are exported to Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States and other countries and regions.

Picture from official website of Nanaholy Furniture

9.X·M·B Furniture

Location: Xiamen,Fujian province

Main Products: wooden furniture including bed,wardrobe,cabinet,sofa,table,desk,chair,bookcase,

dresser and mattress

Style: modern style, traditional style

Materials: wood

X·M·B Furniture was born in 1988. Now it has grown into a modern furniture manufacturer specializing in furniture design, production and sales, with total assets of more than 50 million US dollars. At present, it has a production plant covering nearly 500000 square meters and more than 3000 employees. It has a complete set of wood furniture, mattresses, sofas and sponge production lines introduced from Germany and Taiwan,China. The annual production capacity reaches millions of furniture and the annual output value exceeds 1 billion yuan.

X·M·B is good at telling facts with its own products. It has focused on pine for 24 years, and the raw materials are from all over the world. At the same time, adhering to the FSC international forest green environmental protection certification, it integrates green life into home life, so that consumers can touch the introverted, simple, detail and life track from the texture of pine.

Picture from official website of X·M·B Furniture

10.Quanyou Furniture

Location: Chengdu,Sichuan province

Main Products: furniture including bed,wardrobe,cabinet,sofa,table,desk,chair,bookcase,dresser,

mattress and sanitary ware

Style: modern style,country style, traditional style

Materials: wood,fabric,leather

Quanyou furniture, founded in 1986, is a large modern home enterprise integrating research, production and sales. The company mainly produces panel suite furniture, wood furniture, mattresses, sofas, soft beds and customized furniture, engineering furniture, integral cabinets, sanitary ware and other series of products. The products sell well all over the country and are exported to Europe, America and Southeast Asia.

The company comprehensively promotes the enterprise informatization strategy, from product R & D and design, procurement, production and manufacturing, logistics and sales to customer after-sales service, so as to provide customers with excellent product and service value. In Quanyou, green is not only the basic tone and core gene of Quanyou brand, but also the careful creation of the whole process quality of products.

Picture from official website of Quanyou Furniture

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Step by step guide of importing wooden furniture from China

It is not easy to import products and buy wooden furniture from China, so I suggest you master the following basic knowledge.

Step1:  Look for Chinese furniture suppliers

The first thing you need to do is find the right supplier! If you find the right supplier, you can get reasonable price, superior quality, excellent delivery time, good cooperation and finally achieve best results. You can personally visit China's top six furniture markets, China furniture exhibition, or through sourcing agent, online search, e-commerce, online platform-Alibaba, to find your best suitable supplier.

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Step2:  Obtain samples and quality assurance

Before placing an order with your supplier to mass produce your wooden furniture, you must carry out quality assurance! This means checking the sample and giving acceptance. The quality assurance shall cover all aspects of the furniture, the product itself, the method of assembly (if assembly is required), instructions, packaging, etc. All problems and errors must be solved on the sample agreed between the buyer and the manufacturer. If not, these errors will be mass produced and become a big problem for any furniture importer!

Step3：Compliance with regulations

Ensure that the wooden furniture products you import legally comply with any regulations and standards in your country.

Safety compliance:

Depending on your country, there will be various standards around product safety. As an importer, you need to hold a test certificate and test report to prove that your products have been tested. Please remember, as a furniture importer, this is your responsibility, not a Chinese furniture manufacturer!

Chemical compliance:

There are also specific standards for the use and release of chemicals from wooden furniture.

Sustainability:

People and businesses around the world are increasingly concerned about whether what they buy ultimately comes from sustainable sources.

Step4：Price negotiation

If you place a batch order to import from China, you can negotiate the price and get a reasonable price. After careful price negotiation, choose the most suitable furniture manufacturer for you. Meet factory owners and even sales managers to get lower prices. If you choose to cooperate with Chinese sourcing agents, they can also help you negotiate prices, and you can get a price discount of more than 5% to 7%.

Step5 :  Calculate import cost

Importing wooden furniture from China means that you must know the cost of wooden furniture and its landing cost in your country until it is delivered in your warehouse. This means that import costs need to be calculated. As a basic step, ensure that Chinese suppliers provide FOB as the standard. It stands for "free on board", which means that the cost quotation includes all expenses, not only the cost of furniture, but also the cost of exporting goods and loading them at local ports in China. From there, you will need to know the freight and local fees you will be charged. This includes shipping, local port and handling charges in your country, as well as delivery charges from the port to your warehouse.

Step6：Purchase

One of the significant thing to get right is to ensure there is a purchase contract in place. It should include the following contents:

Clear terms of payment

Furniture specifications, including product, packaging and instruction

Amount of money

Agreed tolerances

Agreed quality standards

Penalty for delay

Although all these details may have been discussed before, there must be a clear procurement agreement.

Step7：Money transfering methods

Although Chinese suppliers are trustworthy, you need to do your part and be careful not to be deceived. Common payment methods include:

Online payment:

Online transfer is suitable for small transactions. For example, if you pay less than $5000, you can use different online transfer services. However, since online payment does not involve any agreement, there is a risk of confusion and quarrel.

International wire transfer:

An ancient method, international wire transfer is used for small and medium-sized transactions. In this way, the buyer can pay part of the purchase price before production starts. The full amount will be paid later when the goods are completed. However, if either party refuses to perform part of his agreement, the other party will suffer losses.

PayPal:

PayPal is similar to credit card payment. By attaching your credit card to your PayPal account, you can use your email account to pay suppliers. A small amount is deducted from the supplier's account and from the imported.PayPal is suitable for small payments.

Western Union:

A simple alternative to PayPal is western union remittance. Therefore, it is favored by Chinese suppliers. The only problem is that the company doesn't receive cash. Instead, it will be handed over to another person and then paid to the company.

Cash:

Like other methods, this is risky. Cash is paid by the importer to the supplier in cash. This is wise only when the buyer has complete trust in the supplier. Direct cash payments can be used for large or small amounts of money.

Letter of credit:

Letter of credit is the safest way to pay large sums of money to suppliers. Since the bank charges you a higher amount, this payment method is only used for larger amounts.

Step8：Quality control

Why do quality control? The reason is that once you import your goods, they can't return to China. You can only either sell it as second-hand goods or fix the problem / error yourself. Therefore, every imported wooden furniture must go through quality inspection.

Mid production inspection - ensure correct material / color, etc.

Pre shipment inspection - Inspection of a batch at the end of production.

Container loading inspection - ensure that the correct amount of furniture is loaded and that the container is loaded correctly.

In short, the more quality control you carry out, the lower your risk.

Step9：Shipment

Furniture is palletized and containerized. The two modes of container transportation are LCL or FCL.

LCL (less than one container load):

If you have small orders or even sample orders, LCL transportation may be the only option. However, your goods must be transported from Chinese furniture manufacturers to the port and loaded into "shared containers". When the goods arrive in your country / region, you need to unpack at the port to obtain your goods. But this means that your furniture is handled by many people, and they may not necessarily handle your goods very carefully.

FCL (full container load):

When you order a full container of goods from the furniture manufacturer, this means that the container is transported to the factory, and then the factory loads the goods into the container. Once the furniture is fully loaded and the door is closed, a sealing strip will be covered on the container. The furniture importer did not open the container until the container arrived. This means that no one else has handled the goods between the furniture manufacturer and the importer! Therefore, this is a lower-risk shipping method.

Best places to visit ancient Chinese wooden furniture

If you are also interested in ancient Chinese wooden furniture, these following locations are sure to be an eye-opener.

The Forbidden City in China shows the essence of the wooden furniture in the imperial era, some of which were used by ancient emperors and blended with western style characteristics.

Shanghai Museum has a permanent exhibition hall of Ming and Qing furniture.

In Wuzhen Water Town near Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, there are ancient wooden furniture such as "The bed made by 1000 craftsmen" in traditional folk houses and boutique hotels.

In Xidi Village, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, you can stay in a room equipped with antique wooden furniture.

Check up Furniture Manufacturers in China–A Complete Guide

Conclusion

Importing wooden furniture from China is the most cost-effective way to obtain furniture for your company or customers, because the country has the best furniture facilities and the largest manufacturer in the furniture industry. However, importing furniture from China is not a simple thing. It requires time, money and a lot of communication. But alternatively, you can also find a furniture sourcing agent, as in the long run, it will directly save you money and time.

As a reliable one-stop furniture solution maker with over 10 years of sourcing ,Simonsense is always happy to help lower your furniture purchasing costs without sacrificing the quality. Reach out to us at any time and we’ll set you up for furniture success!

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Status

Furniture plays an important role in people’s lives. It is closely involved in people’s work, study, and entertainment, as an evergreen industry in human society. The furniture industry is an important part of the ecological industry in the whole wood industry chain, as shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 1, the solid line represents the forestry downstream industry chain and the dotted line indicates the forestry is involved in industry chain. It can be concluded that as a final product, furniture involves the integration of material, technology, art, function, and culture. The style and cultural characteristics have become the main parts of the furniture. The Chinese furniture industry constantly promotes the development of the wood industry by means of the international industrial transfer, integration, world trade improving people’s living standards by a stable national macropolicy. It can accelerate the export and stimulate domestic consumption to meet the domestic investment as a leading industry and become a pillar of the domestic employment demand-type consumer industries. That is, the furniture industry has the power to guide the development of the wood industry in China.

Furniture industry status in the whole forestry industry. Rightwards arrow represents the forestry downstream industry chain. Rightwards dashed arrow represents that the forestry is involved in industry chain

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Current state

Overall operation of the furniture industry showed a rising trend

The data from Chinese National Bureau of Statistics and Customs Statistics [9] are shown in Fig. 2. China furniture production was value at 1400 billion yuan in 2001, but reached 11,300 billion yuan in 2012, accounting for 2% of the whole Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) (519,322 billion yuan in 2012) and 25% [9] of the world total furniture production. The Chinese furniture industry that exported to international markets in 2012 is summarized in Table 1. It shows that the market was mainly the USA and Europe. The total export from 2001 to 2014 is shown in Fig. 3. The increasing export value suggesting that China has become the world’s furniture production and export country.

Gross output value of Chinese furniture

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Export results of Chinese furniture

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Because the number of Chinese small furniture enterprises is changing, the National Bureau of Statistics and the Customs cannot obtain accurate statistical data, and statistics on these enterprises come from the China Light Industrial Economic Operation Center from 2013. In 2014, the enterprises, whose main business income was over 5 million yuan, had reached 4942, of which 3988 were domestic enterprises, accounting for 80.7%; 488 were Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan enterprises, accounting for 9.9%; and 466 were foreign enterprises, accounting for 9.4%, respectively, classified according to the nature of the capital. Wood furniture enterprises were 3165, accounting for 64.0%; metal furniture enterprises were 925, accounting for 18.7%; plastic furniture enterprises were 83, and Taketo furniture enterprises were 75, respectively, according to the material classification. Total production value, accumulated profits, and cumulative production are summarized in Tables 2 and 3. These data are the results of analysis of the Chinese industries by the China Light Industry Association, which according to the development of the industry and the relevant national policies, in every given period, usually 5–10 years and often called industry future forecasts and warnings. It can be seen that the ten top furniture enterprises, whose main business income was over 5 million yuan, were mainly in Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian, Henan, Shandong, Liaoning, Shanghai, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi. The production proportion distribution is shown in Fig. 4. The total production of the top three accounted for about 65.7%.

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Chinese production proportion of furniture industry in 2014

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From the above data and analysis, it can be seen that while the main business income of Chinese furniture enterprises and the whole production has been trending upward, the growth rate is declining (Fig. 2; Table 3). While export production is increasing, the growth rate has also significantly decreased (Fig. 3). The scale of enterprises gradually increased, and the gross and cumulative profits increased year by year, showing good growth, as summarized in Table 2. Wood furniture including solid wood and veneer furniture, metal furniture, and soft furniture is the main products according to the material classification (Table 3). Among them, wooden furniture has been dominant and accounts for 60–70% of the total output value or 30–35% of total exports. In these, veneer furniture accounts for about 45% of production, and the value of efficiency and benefit value are higher than that of solid wood furniture and furniture of other material. Of course, wood as a traditional material is still the mainstream of furniture production, and the furniture material distribution is shown in Fig. 5. Wu [10] reported that wood consumption in furniture industry accounted for 10–15% of total wood industry consumption, and wood-based veneer cladding materials had a 37% share of furniture materials. About 70% of plywood, fiberboard, particleboard, and block board production are consumed by the furniture industry. The high-grade thin veneer particleboard and medium-density fiberboard (MDF) not only saves costly wood but also lets ordinary people enjoy wood furniture.

Chinese furniture materials distribution in 2014

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Developed industrial area but bad balance for regional development

Figure 6 shows the distribution of furniture manufacturing areas in China. It can be seen that there are five major furniture industrial zones and one Central Industrial Zone, forming 34 characteristic regions that have regional furniture production, sale, and raw material supply with respective characteristics [11]. In all industrial area, whether industrial scale, furniture quality, and efficiency of exports, the Eastern zone is the best. It accounted for 70% of all Chinese furniture industry sales, exports accounted for more than 90%, profits accounted for more than 60%, and the cumulative total assets accounted for about 75% [11], respectively. In 2009, the State Council made a policy to promote the development of the central and western regions of China, and the furniture industry began to transfer to the midwest. The furniture industry in the central region has full potential to expand the scale rapidly, but due to a weak foundation, except Sichuan, the furniture industry in the other western region is small scale, scattered, and low specialization.

Regional and transfer of Chinese furniture industry

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The Chinese national furniture industry can be divided into five types. (1) The dominant type, including Guangdong, Shandong, and Zhejiang as the major industrial distribution cluster, belongs to the leader camp. (2) The structural adjustment type, mainly in Shanghai and Jiangsu, combined with regional economic development planning, is re-positioning and adjusting industrial structure. (3) In the rapidly rising type, including Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Henan, Hubei, and Anhui, the industry is in a period of rapid growth. (4) The development potential type, including Jiangxi, Fujian, Beijing, Tianjin, Northeast, Shaanxi, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Chongqing, has a strong vitality and development potential. (5) In the weak foundation type, concentrated in Xinjiang, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Guizhou, Shanxi, Gansu, and Hainan, the industry is poor, small scale, and poorly developed.

Domestic market is growing rapidly and gradually matures

The Chinese furniture market is strongly influenced by the external development of the environment, furniture exhibition, development of “Pan Home” diversified marketing, the rise of e-commerce, and the rapid growth of mergers and acquisitions. From south to north China has four sales center Guangdong Shunde Lecong Town, Sichuan Chengdu Wuhou District, Jiangsu Suzhou Xiangcheng Likou, and Hebei Langfang Xianghe, and 12 large furniture stores, as shown in Table 4. Furniture store area increased from 50 million square meters in 2006 to 80 million square meters in 2012, with a national per capita of 0.1 m2. With the weakening of the international market and the decline in exports, domestic consumption has gradually become the main market. According to the China light industrial economic operation and forecast and warning system of statistics, in 2012, the domestic market consumption reached 819.4 billion yuan, accounting for 72.2%; meanwhile, exports were 315.4 billion yuan, accounting for 27.8%, respectively. Furniture consumption levels in 2005 per capita 139.8 yuan/person increased to 315.6–378.7 yuan/person in 2012 [9]. However, compared with 1262.4–2524.8 yuan/person in Europe and America, Chinese consumption is still low.

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Technology and development increase

The technology and equipment of Chinese furniture industry have been greatly improved and reached the international average level. The main equipment imported from abroad and the secondary equipment use is domestic. The main equipment is imported mainly from Germany and Italy as well as the United States, France, and Japan. The working environment is continuously improved, and labor productivity also is generally improved. From 2008 to 2012, the overall labor productivity of the furniture industry double, the average labor productivity rose more than 5% [7].

Research and development and design capability have become the core advantages of the furniture industry. Han et al. [12] examined the global competitiveness of the Chinese wooden furniture industry based on Balassa’s Revealed Comparative Advantage Indices and concluded that China has experienced a transition from comparative disadvantage into a high comparative advantage over the period, and has maintained a strong position in this labor-intensive industry. However, it still falls behind traditionally strong competitors such as Italy and Germany in terms of quality and unit price. The China Furniture Association [13] usually organizes various types of furniture design competition to develop furniture design and encourages enterprises to increase original design and enhance the independent brand investment. In 2012, Chinese furniture enterprises took their original product design to Milan furniture exhibition for the first time. In 2013, more than 20 Chinese furniture brand design were exhibition to the world. The “free workshop” design was awarded “Design Oscar Prize” of red dot design award.

The continuous improvement and construction speed of the standardization system played a positive role in promoting the upgrading of the furniture industry. Zhu [14] showed that 128 furniture standards have been postponed until 2013, including 66 national standards and 62 industry standards. In 2014, China released two new national standards and six industry standards for a total of 136 standards. In addition, through the integration of industry, universities, and research institutes to promote the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, it has achieved good results in energy saving, environmental protection, comprehensive utilization of raw materials, application of information technology, and revision of the standards.

IT used in furniture industry changed the manufacturing mode

In 2013, Xiong et al. [15] reported that the Chinese furniture industry manufacturing mode changed mainly in three stages. In the middle of the 1980s, it established a large-scale production mode in the preliminary industrialization, although was still a semi-industrial production mode. In the late 1990s, small batch production of furniture became popular and gradually formed the mass customization production mode. Beginning in 2006, with a combination of IT and manufacturing technology, it formed a new mode of furniture information (Fig. 7). As the advanced manufacturing technology was applied from 2000, Xiong [16] showed that the Chinese furniture industry began to improve the furniture market adaptability and competitive abilities, especially in the veneer furniture enterprises have been vigorously developed.

Materials and production concept

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On the other hand, mass customization of furniture production can promote the overall promotion of the furniture industry in the process of information technology. In 2006, transformation of furniture information was tried by the Weishang factory cooperating with the Yuanfang software for mass customization. At the same time, the “national long-term science and technology development plan (2006–2020)” and the “Eighteenth Congress of the Communist Party of China” also explicitly put forward the concept of “using high technology to transform and upgrade the traditional manufacturing industry” and “vigorously promoting the informatization of the manufacturing industry”. After 2010, many types of software, such as ERP (enterprise resource planning), 2020, IMOS (integrated multiprogramming operating system), Topsolid, and SolidWorks, were used in the furniture industry for information management. In the cabinet and wardrobe area, many large-scale and mass customization star enterprises such as Gold medal, Sophia, LuxeHome, and Feimei, appeared. IT and mass customization shortened the production cycle of personalized wood bamboo products by one-third, increased the utilization rate of raw material by 5%, reduced energy consumption by 10%, and reduced product cost more than 10%, respectively [15]. With the application and promotion of mass customization in Chinese furniture enterprises, some star enterprises began to realize management of the whole life cycle of furniture information. Through the implementation of this, many areas, including customer relationship management, supply chain management, product data management, production plan management, and enterprise collaborative management, have developed various types of information management technologies, such as bar code technology, radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology, high-speed data communication 3G technology, and big data parallel processing technology. In the process of furniture production, transportation, installation, and service, IT supported barcode scanning and wireless 3G data to check the process and to ensure that each individual product shape and structure is problem-free in the tens or hundreds steps of manufacturing, transportation, installation, and service.

Formed industrial chain and gradually strengthened synergistic effect

The synergy of the Chinese furniture industry chain is gradually increasing, which is reflected in three aspects. First, the integration of furniture circulation and manufacturing has increased. Some large-scale market agglomeration effects and radiation of professional distribution market led to the development of the local furniture industry. Some new industrial agglomeration areas have appeared and the division of labor and cooperation is more clearly. Second, the Pan-home industries began to infiltrate each other. Furniture has a close relationship with interior decoration, and “overall kitchen”, “overall bedroom”, and “overall bathroom” spaces have appeared. The concepts of an “integrated home” and an “overall home” guide and promote the industrialization of Chinese domestic furniture enterprises. Third, more cooperation occurred between different scale furniture industries. As furniture products lead the system, such as material processing, glass and metal accessories, and fabric matching have broken the traditional concept of industry to form a new furniture industry using leather, textile, metal, glass, plastics, and other industries together.

In the improvement of the industrial chain, industrial transfer through the construction of industrial park, China has built or plans to build over 30 furniture factories of 6.67 km2 and 100 furniture factories of 0.2–0.6 km2 [12]. The industrial park provides good integration of resources, advances industrial chain, reduces production cost, changes the distribution of employment space, promotes the adjustment of regional industrial structure, and strengthens the industrial division and cooperation.

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