China Furniture Original Design Competition officially launched

As one of the key events at the third Suzhou Expo, the China Furniture Original Design Competition was officially launched yesterday. This competition serves as a reminder to many furniture manufacturers about a long-standing issue: "Why does Chinese furniture often lack original design?" By showcasing award-winning works and promoting the competition, it aims to highlight the untapped potential of original design in overcoming the challenges that hinder the growth of the furniture industry.  **How Can a Big Furniture Country Become a Powerful One?** In the 1970s, Likou became a hub for furniture production and trade through the self-production and sale of sofas and metal furniture. By 1992, Likou had established the Likou Furniture City, a 6,000-square-meter trading market that quickly gained popularity with the slogan “Likou Furniture City – The No.1 Furniture City.” Over time, it evolved into the largest furniture distribution center and consumer market in East China. In 1998, it was officially recognized as Jiangsu Provincial Likou International Furniture City by the Jiangsu Industrial and Commercial Bureau. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the total investment in Likou International Furniture City has reached 5 billion yuan, with nearly 1.5 million square meters of construction area. There are 55 trading halls along Xiangcheng Avenue, hosting nearly 6,000 businesses from across the country, generating annual sales of 20 billion yuan. While this growth has made China the world’s largest furniture exporter, an embarrassing reality remains: a lack of originality and widespread copying. “It’s no exaggeration to say that if you walk into the furniture city today, following trends, copying, and small-scale production have become the norm,” said a brand manufacturer who wished to remain anonymous. “Many products look similar, leading to homogenous competition, which only results in price wars and ongoing disputes. All of this stems from a lack of originality.” To foreign consumers, Chinese furniture is often synonymous with “cheap goods.” Despite high output, it has failed to bring about meaningful quality improvements. In 2011, China ranked first in the world for 220 types of industrial products, but most were low-end. The label of “low-tech content and low added value” still clings to Chinese manufacturing. For the furniture industry, original design is essential to boosting added value. **Original Design Must Begin With a Change in Mindset** In Likou International Furniture City, there are approximately 5,000 companies with an annual output value over 10 million yuan, but fewer than 100 have original design capabilities. According to Wenchuanglian Home Branch, many entrepreneurs still hold outdated views on design, believing that without it, they can still get orders. Today, many cities across China have developed large furniture industries, each focusing on different segments such as office furniture, soft furnishings, and low-end household items. However, the traditional showroom model is being challenged by online sales. As the post-70s and post-80s generations become the main consumers, they not only care about functionality and comfort but also seek fashion, personality, and adaptability to new business models—something that traditional furniture markets like Likou struggle to match. **It Is Urgent to Build a Creative Design Platform for the Furniture City** “The Expo emphasizes cultural creativity and seeks to harness the power of original design across industries. The China Furniture Original Design Competition aligns perfectly with the Expo’s theme,” said an official from the third Suzhou Chuangbo Expo organizing committee. “The Suzhou furniture industry is facing a development bottleneck, and transformation is urgently needed. These activities aim to guide enterprises toward innovation.” A healthy market requires continuous innovation. Innovation drives economic upgrading, and it relies on market players. However, Chinese enterprises invest less than 1% of their revenue in R&D—far below the 2.5–4% seen in developed countries. According to Wenchuanglian Home Branch, “Original products require large teams and long R&D cycles, making them expensive. Even average enterprises find it difficult to bear these costs, which fuels the problem of plagiarism.” Therefore, Wenchuanglian hopes the government will support the industry by building a creative design center and a comprehensive service platform for home design copyrights. As the birthplace of Ming-style furniture, Suzhou's design and manufacturing skills have had a lasting influence. Unlike the traditional “non-legacy” approach that failed to embrace education, modern Suzhou has experienced revolutionary changes in materials and benefits from deep historical culture. With its rich heritage and strong economy, Suzhou should create a large platform for creative talents, design companies, and furniture manufacturers, offering docking services for both Ming-style and modern furniture. Professor Qin Huaiyu, deputy director of the Industrial Design Department at the Suzhou Arts and Crafts Academy, strongly supports the creation of a comprehensive service platform for home design copyright. As a director of the Suzhou Copyright Association, he believes that “building a comprehensive platform for copyright mainly focuses on investing in innovative design and development for home products, improving self-creation capabilities, and producing more copyrighted home products. To achieve this, the most important step is to cultivate and attract copyright talent and establish a home design and innovation R&D team.”

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