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CIFF: DESIGNED IN CHINA
DESIGNED IN CHINA
China International Furniture Fair (CIFF) Guangzhou, held from 18 to 21 March (Phase 1), showcased its most comprehensive home furniture exhibition to date with a large display of living solutions for the future.
Spanning 90 exhibition halls and covering 850,000 square metres, over 4,700 participating brands from China and overseas showcased their latest innovations to 363,825 visitors from 187 countries and regions. Notably, the number of overseas attendees (56,794) marked a 10.91 per cent year-on-year increase.
Divided into two phases, CIFF Guangzhou 2025 provided a comprehensive overview of the entire supply chain featuring Home Furniture, Office & Commercial Space and CIFM/ interzum guangzhou.
Under the theme ’navigation’, Home Furniture showcased cutting-edge improvements in creative home aesthetics, high-end interior decorations, intelligent sleep technology and refined outdoor living.
Reflecting a strong industry shift toward sustainability, smart home integration and personalisation, the fair tapped into the trends shaping future home environments.
The fair explored home furniture in six innovative areas through design and space. From the Sofa & Bed section to the innovative Dining & Living sector showcasing the latest trends, each area had been curated to address contemporary living demands.
The CIFF Modern Design Expo covered over 50,000 square metres of the Canton Fair Complex and united 60 commercial design brands, 40 international design brands and studios, 100 design ecosystem institutions and more than 200 designers.
Seven curated exhibition areas—East Design Show, CMF Trends LAB, Aesthetic Exhibition of Intangible Cultural Heritage Skills, Green East, Design United, Design Dimsum and Design Export—created a platform where traditional craftsmanship meets contemporary innovation.
This collaborative environment marked the evolution from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Designed in China’, promoting innovation and supporting global market expansion while offering visitors international design perspectives.
This year, 12 themed design exhibitions, curated by experts like Zhu Xiaojie, Li Ximi, Jamy Yang, Yu Lizhan, explored trendy topics such as folk arts, sustainability and AI applications.
The Sofa area created quite the buzz at the fair, occupying 130,000 square meters and featuring nearly 330 domestic and international brands including industry leaders such as Kuka, MANWAH, HTL and other brands.
A unique ‘Sofa Plus’ created an S-shaped journey through Halls 9.3-11.3, offering visitors an immersive experience of global sofa innovations. The Sleep exhibition area took centre stage with 40,000 square meters of exhibition space and 130 exhibitors, emphasising the integration of smart technology and health-focused innovations. A dedicated 10,000-square-meter smart sleep zone showcased cutting-edge products including smart mattresses, intelligent beds, monitoring systems and advanced sleep technology solutions, highlighting the industry’s commitment to wellness and comfort.
The Dining and Living Room exhibition spanned an impressive 120,000 square metres, featuring more than 750 manufacturers across specialised zones. The dedicated Dining Room Design Hall and Living Room Design Hall displayed the latest innovations in residential spaces, while a cross-border ecommerce zone served as a strategic platform for international trade bringing together leading global platforms including Amazon, eBay, TikTok, Temu, Shein and Wayfair, presenting products specifically optimised for online retail and facilitating direct connections between manufacturers and digital marketplaces.
Furniture design brand H28 introduced the Global Designer’s Lounge, blending eastern hospitality with western design.
The HC28 stand is built around the narrative of ‘four lounges and one gallery’. The exterior design is the first visual focal point— huge craft detail panels and light, airy curtains create an interplay of solid and void, says product manager, Ruolin Feng.
“This experience blends the art of eastern hospitality into a space aesthetic revolution,” she explains.
“From objects to spirit, from function to artistic conception, the brand uses design language to interpret the philosophical wisdom of ‘harmony between heaven and humanity’, offering a cross-cultural, future-forward immersive experience for a global audience.”
As visitors stepped inside the stand, four themed lounges focused on symbiosis, dialogue, contemplation and future.
“Through different materials and lighting, the space reflected the multi-layered nature of eastern aesthetics, while also showcasing an international perspective and subtle eastern charm.”
Eastern hospitality emphasises ‘courtesy as the foundation, harmony as the soul’ and HC28 drew inspiration from this philosophy to reimagine the Global Designer’s Lounge, she comments.
“Breaking the physical boundaries of traditional home design with panoramic design thinking, HC28 transforms the space into a spiritual domain that carries eastern philosophical thought.
“By dissolving the separation between custom furniture and mobile furniture through a fluid floor layout and building vertical planes that balance the abstract and the concrete, the space takes on a breathable and inclusive quality. This innovation is not only a revolution in living functionality but also a contemporary interpretation of eastern lifestyles and spiritual core.”
Highlights from CIFF
The debut of the ‘east meets west minimalism’ lounge marks HC28’s strategic shift from product output to cultural output, adds Feng.
“The brand rejects complex symbol overload, using restrained lines, natural materials and the philosophy of empty space to share eastern wisdom through design with the world. Looking ahead, HC28 will collaborate with more international design masters to tell the story of eastern futurism on the global stage.”
The International Pavilion covered 30,000 square metres with more than 100 manufacturers from countries including Italy, Singapore, the United States, Malaysia, Australia, India, South Korea and Turkey, celebrating diverse cultural influences and global design perspectives.
Singaporean brand Commune believes that the International Pavilion’s concept perfectly aligns with its values.
“The International Pavilion serves as a window, giving exhibitors the opportunity to directly access the vibrant Chinese market and propel their brands onto a broader world stage,” says a spokesperson.
“As the International Pavilion becomes increasingly international, more high quality overseas brands are entering the market and Chinese consumers’ acceptance and demand for international design styles continue to grow.”
IPEK from Turkey focuses on the production of upholstered and panel furniture and it continuously launches new products that keep up with market trends.
“In recent years, CIFF Guangzhou has witnessed significant changes in industry trends that reflect both the overall transformation of the global home furnishings market and the unique demands of the Chinese market,” the brand states.
“On this excellent platform we can showcase our brand to the world and expand our brand influence.”
The Home Decor & Home Textiles is the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in China and featured over 500 exhibitors under the theme ’Renewal’, with presentations on interior and decoration aesthetics.
Outdoor Furniture, Sunshade & Leisure, themed ’Exploration’, covered the full spectrum of outdoor furnishing including outdoor furniture, outdoor sunshade, garden decor, grills and camping gear.
