China Emerges as Outdoor Furniture Powerhouse

China's outdoor furniture industry has been developing briskly for years, thanks to strong domestic and overseas demand, and has now become a global powerhouse. Customs statistics show that the industry's exports have been growing at an annual clip of 30%, enabling it to carve out a prominent status in the global market, which has an estimated capacity of US$20 billion a year.

The country's domestic market has also been expanding robustly, with more and more households (as opposed to commercial establishments) buying outdoor furniture as a vogue grows for outdoor activities there. Preparations for Shanghai World Expo 2010 have also stimulated sales, helping to trigger fierce competition among domestic and foreign suppliers.

The Chinese outdoor-furniture industry consists of many different kinds of operation including branded manufacturing, original equipment manufacturing (OEM), and sales. The general direction of development is toward large size and a diversified product range.

China still lags far behind its foreign competitors in terms of product quality, design, manufacturing, marketing, and branding. With domestic demand expected to continue strengthening, however, the outlook for the industry is bright. Thriving domestic tourism businesses will further spur demand.

Chinese manufacturers have been working hard to catch up with their foreign counterparts by upgrading their manufacturing processes in recent years; they have applied computers and robots, introduced the ISO system, developed standard components and parts, and instituted strict quality control systems.

Industry insiders point to a number of features that characterize the global outdoor-furniture market at the present time. Among these are environmental design that stresses no wastage of resources, the use of environmentally friendly materials, and an emphasis on value for money (this last point given a powerful boost by the recent recession). Another feature is innovative design that is free of the constraints of stereotypical styling. Bright colors continue to be the mainstream in outdoor furniture, along with lightweight materials and simplicity of style.