Houjie, China - Once again, International Famous Furniture Fair (Dongguan), commonly known as 3F proves to be "the show representing the best of Chinese Furnishing Industry" and continues to take the lead in promoting the development of furnishing industry in China.
The 23rd 3F, running from 16 to 20 March 2010 in Houjie China showcased the latest products of 915 exhibitors in 10 exhibition halls (3 are tents) with a total space of 260,000 square meters. The 5-day Fair attracted 112,850 visitors, among them 11,560 are from overseas.
"I am very glad to know that the 23rd 3F made 3 records this March," said Mr. Yin Chengzhi, the President of Dongguan Famous Furniture Fair, one of the organizers of the Fair, "We have the largest number of exhibitors in the biggest space we ever had. And the number of visitors in the first day made the third record - a total of 42,000. I am even happier to know that many exhibitors made good contacts and business in the Fair."
"The show, in my point of view, is beyond my expectation", commented Mr. Russ Langford, COO of Magnussen Home, first time exhibitor in 3F, "we have about 50 good international buyers in the first two days and over 90% of them are new customers to us. And I have no idea how many business we have done for the domestic Chinese market because it's handled by my China partner" Magussen Home (www.magnussen.com) is a reputable furniture brand from Canada and successful in the American market as well. The company attended 3F with a purpose to enter Chinese domestic market but was too happy to meet many quality international buyers at the show.
Shenzhen Fu Li Yuan Furniture Co., Ltd (www.liyasi.com) is another first time exhibitor at 3F. "From the very beginning of the show, my stand had a very good crowd," said Ms. Besty Liu, the Sales Manager of the company, "3F greatly help my company to grow domestic market". Fu Li Yuan represents many furniture companies who used to focus too much on export business and are now using 3F to bridge them to China home market.
Many visitors to the Fair were happy to find new exhibitors like Magnussen Home and Fu Li Yuan. "We would be able to have more new exhibitors should we have more space," said Ms. Fang Hui, the Secretary General of Dongguan Famous Furniture Association. "We received application for space from over 1,600 companies, but at the end we can only allow to have 915 of them as my exhibitors, and that's after we build an additional temporary Hall 10." Over the years, many furniture companies in China put their trust in 3F and regard 3F as a very important platform for them to meet new customers and consolidate the business relationships with existing customers.
One reason behind the trust is that 3F is organized by two of the most important furniture associations in China- Dongguan Famous Furniture Association and Hong Kong Furniture Trade Association. As both are non-profitable organizations, promoting the development of the industry rather than pure profit is the focal point for the two organizers, who continues to shoulder the responsibilities of promoting the furniture industry in China by focus on sustainability and design. Another good news from this Fair is that the two associations have renewed their collaboration contract and will be co-organizers of the Fair till the year 2016. The collaboration, started from year 2001 was regarded as the water-shred event in the history of Chinese furniture industry and led to the transformation of 3F into one of the top 3 furniture shows in China.
During the 23rd 3F, Bamboo Furniture and Materials Application Theme Exhibition, the very first of its kind dedicated to bamboo and its applications in furniture industry, was held over a space of 2,000 square meters in Hall 2. This is yet another move by the organizers to take the furniture industry in China to the next level -"Green furniture".
10 companies were given complementary space to showcase their usage of bamboo in the producing of furniture. The move was hailed by bamboo furniture manufacturers and furniture players as well. "Nowadays, as the world grows more and more conscious on environment protection, we realize that bamboo can be a good alternative of wood. That's why we decided to organize the bamboo show," said Ms. Fang Hui, Secretary General of Dongguan Famous Furniture Association.
Promoting the design in the furniture industry in China always weighs a lot to the organizers of the Fair. In the 23rd 3F, the works of Eiri Iwakura, veteran Japanese designer were featured in Design Space in Hall 2. The display collection is made of a total of 35 chairs which are selected from the products Mr. Iwakura designed over the course of 35 years. Mr. Iwakura said that he would like to work with the organizers of the show to contribute to the promotion of design abilities among young Chinese designers. "I understand that every year 3F attracts many furniture designers from China to Houjie. By showcasing this collection here, I believe it can help me spread the spirit of design to larger audience of designers in China."
Famous Furniture Design Forum was also held during the 23rd 3F, featuring Italian designer and architect Mr. Carlo Vannicola, Japanese designer Mr. Eiri Iwakura And architect and designer Mr. Qin Pang from China and Ms. Claire Taylor from United Kingdom.
The 24th 3F will be held from 1 to 5th September 2010. For more information, please visit www.3f.net.cn/e.
