China's Wood Furniture Manufacturing Industry: Industrial Cluster and Export Competitiveness

Author
Yang Hongqiang, Chunyi Ji, Ying Nie, and Hong Yinxing

Article Citation:

Yang Hongqiang, Chunyi Ji, Ying Nie, and, and Hong Yinxing (2012) China's Wood Furniture Manufacturing Industry: Industrial Cluster and Export Competitiveness. Forest Products Journal: 2012, Vol. 62, No. 3, pp. 214-221.

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13073/0015-7473-62.3.214

The authors are, respectively, Associate Professor/Vice Dean, College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Forestry Univ., and Associate Professor, Center for the Yangtze River Delta's Socioeconomic Development, Nanjing Univ., Nanjing, China (yhqnfu@gmail.com [corresponding author]); Lecturer, College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Forestry Univ., and Senior Research Associate, Research Center for Economics and Trade in Forest Products of the State Forestry Admin. (SINO-RCETFOR), Nanjing, China (jcynfu@gmail.com); Professor/President, Jinling Inst. of Technol., Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, and Professor/Director, SINO-RCETFOR, Nanjing, China (ynieh@njfu.edu.cn); and Professor/Director, Center for the Yangtze River Delta's Socioeconomic Development, Nanjing Univ., Nanjing, China (yhqnfu@yahoo.com.cn [corresponding author]). This paper was received for publication in March 2012. Article no. 12‐00037.

Abstract China is the largest furniture exporter in the world. Its wood furniture industry has become an important part of the country's forestry economic development. Hence, investigating China's furniture industry cluster and export competitiveness would benefit the sustainable development of China's forestry industry. Our study indicates that, under the export-oriented strategy of China's reform and opened economy, the country's furniture industry has developed in three large areas over the last 30 years, namely, the Eastern Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Bohai Rim Region. As the strategy shifts from an export orientation to a focus on domestic demand, the country's midwestern area will take over China's industrial production. At present, China's furniture products have an important position in the world market. In 2010, furniture exports accounted for 27 percent of the world's total exports, with wood furniture accounting for US$10.6 billion worth of exports, or 58 percent of China's total exports of furniture. Among the main export markets, the United States accounted for 39 percent of China's total exports. In terms of international furniture trade, an important mutual relationship exists between China and the United States. China's office furniture and kitchen furniture have price advantages, whereas the bedroom furniture lacks price advantages. In particular, the production and export of mahogany furniture may be hampered by raw material shortage because of the protection of tropical forest resources. This challenge puts China's furniture industry in future competition with emerging countries such as Malaysia.

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