Wood Industry in China: A Brief Overview

As the world’s leading producer and exporter of wood furniture, plywood, fiberboard, floors and many other wood interior and building products, the Chinese wood industry consists of thousands of companies that range vastly in size from small workshops that employ a couple of part-time labors to world-class giants such as Power Deckor Group, Dare Group, Lacquer Craft, and Markor Furniture, which own several multi-national brands and distribution channels in domestic and overseas markets. According to statistics, in 2007, total output of the Chinese wood industry reached over US$51 billion, of which wood-based panel sector accounted for nearly 41%, followed by furniture-manufacturing 22.5% (SFA 2008). It is estimated that over 21% of the country’s wood manufacturers are located in South China’s Guangdong Province - which is China’s largest furniture-manufacturing basis that accounted for 31% of the country’s total wood furniture production (by volume), and 40% exports in terms of value in 2009 (CNFA 2010). Recently, due to fast-rising labor and land costs in South China, the wood industry is gradually migrating up to North China, East China’s Zhejiang Province and interior Sichuan Province. Also, an increasing number of Chinese companies (particularly wood bedroom furniture manufacturers) are investing in Southeast Asian states such as Vietnam to seek lower-cost production and to avoid high anti-dumping duties to the U.S. market (Cao and Hansen 2006).