Attendance up 16% at CIFF in Guangzhou

Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, May 1, 2012

GUANGZHOU, China — The 29th edition of the China International Furniture Fair held here in March drew about 178,036 visitors for both the residential and commercial office segments, up 16% from March 2011, organizers said.

The total included more than 139,966 domestic buyers and 41,070 from overseas. Official figures were not available on country by country attendance, but the shows attracted buying groups from Turkey, Japan and South Africa as well as mainland China.

Last March, total attendance was 153,503, according to official show results.

The March 18-21 residential furniture, accessories, home textile and outdoor show was held in about 3.6 million square feet of space at the China Import Export Fair Complex.

That segment featured more than 1,600 exhibitors from more than 20 countries, including China, the United States, Germany, Italy, France, Singapore, Thailand and Australia.

The office segment of the show was held from March 27-30 in about 2 million square feet at the same complex. It featured some 790 exhibitors from China, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the U.S. and Taiwan.

The show also had a woodworking machinery segment called Interzum Guangzhou that was held in about 1.4 million square feet of space.

The next CIFF event will be held Sept. 7-10 at the same complex. For more information, visit, www.ciff-gz.com.