Fourteen Italian home furnishing companies went on a mission to Guangzhou, capital city of the province of Guandgong and leading hub for Southern China, to meet Chinese counterparts and establish new business relations.The visit was coordinated by the Italian Consulate General in Guangzhou and the Italian embassy in Beijing and organised by the Italian Trade Agency – ICE- and Federlegno Arredo Eventi. The opening press conference was attended by Paolo Quattrocchi, ICE Guangzhou director and Roberto Cuneo, head of FederlegnoArredo’s International Promotion Office. Italian Consul-General in Guangzhou, Laura Egoli, illustrated the range of opportunities high-performing Italian sectors would have in South China, with special attention to the furnishing industry, one of Italy’s fields of excellence. Ms Egoli also spoke about the support the Farensina’s diplomatic and consular network is able to give Italian companies, due to its in-depth knowledge of local realities.
14 Italian home furnishing firms
The Italian delegation started on its busy schedule right after the press conference. was over. Participating companies were given the opportunity of meeting designers and architects working in Guangdong and touring project building sites. In particular an intense B2B agenda of 300 meetings was organised to allow each Italian company to meet with an average of 20 Chinese businesses. A large proportion of Chinese consumers is increasingly attracted to Western models and lifestyles, thus boosting an already growing demand for home furnishing products. By the same token, there is great interest in Italy’s clothing and wine and food sectors. As to the home furnishing sector in particular, Italy ranks first in China in terms of exports, with a volume of 300 million euros in 2015, 20 percent up from 2014. The sector’s exports are expected to grow by 40 percent by 2019. Guangdong Province, which is adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau, is the country’s leading economic province of all 31 provinces and municipalities in terms of GDP – approx. one trillion dollars – with an 8.5 per cent growth rate. As a result ,Guandgong ranks 16th in the world behind Mexico and South Korea and ahead of Indonesia and Turkey. It has over 100 million inhabitants.
