Southern China to get new home furnishings center

First stage of $1.3 billion complex to open in 2009

Tom Russell -- Furniture Today, December 1, 2008

FOSHAN, China — A new home furnishings complex is going up in Foshan, a home furnishings manufacturing center in the southern China province of Guangdong.

The $1.3 billion complex will market and sell goods from 17 industries including furniture and bedding, accessories, and kitchen and bath. It will house space for showrooms, retail storefronts, and professional services ranging from logistics to warehousing and consulting. It also will have catering and entertainment facilities.

The China Home Furnishing Expo Center held a project commencement ceremony in Foshan on Oct. 27.

Details about the size and number of buildings on the campus were unavailable.

However a statement issued about the project said it will occupy about 57,500 acres of land and will be built in two phases over a three-year period. The first section will occupy just under half the land and is expected to be open as soon as October 2009.

The project was announced by Zuo Naigiang, general director of the China Home Furnishings Expo Center and chairman of the Foshan Furniture Assn. Officials estimated that the Oct. 27 commencement ceremony was attended by more than 6,000 furniture and furnishings managers and directors from around the world.