12th China International Furniture Fair CIFF2003(August)

Furniture World Magazine

The 12 th China International Furniture Fair (CIFF2003) was successfully held in the Chinese Export Commodities Fairground (Guangzhou) on August 18-21, 2003, concurrently with Hometextile China 2003. As one of the largest furniture fairs in the country, CIFF had attracted 590 exhibitors from more than 20 provinces and regions at home and 13 countries and regions overseas, including Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. They showcased the latest home and office furniture and accessories, home textile and decorative and interior furnishings. The exhibition space totals 70,000 square metres, up 10 per cent from the 11th session a year ago. Home and office furniture dominated the exhibition halls. More than 160 renowned domestic furniture enterprises were represented at the fair, showing off primarily wooden and metal bedroom furniture and living room furniture. Some 100-office furniture enterprises showcased a wide range of products for office use. The organizer of the fair had made great efforts to invite professional buyers to the fair by focusing commercial on North America, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East. At the same time, promotional campaigns had been launched targeting globally renowned furniture fairs abroad. As a result the efforts had paid off. Some 1,000 overseas buyers, including those from the United States, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan had pre-registered for a slot at the fair by late July. More than half of them came from Asia, including 246 from Southeast countries, 171 from China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, 72 from the Middle East and 58 from Japan and South Korea. Those signed up ahead of the event also include 113 potential buyers from North America and 78 from European countries. Potential buyers pre-registered for the fair either by mail or via the Internet. Half of them had chosen to logon to www.ciff-gz.com to download the free pre-registration forms and search for information about the fair. The organizer had also invited renowned experts to elaborate on a series of related topics at supplementary seminars during the four-day event, boosting exchanges and cooperation between the furniture industry at home and abroad. To protect intellectual property rights, encourage design and innovation and safeguard the reputation of the fair, the organizer had set some regulations for the exhibition and invited the Intellectual Property Office of Guangdong Province to the fair for dealing with the issues about patent.