Platform taking home furniture global

With the global home furniture market reaching approximately $800 billion, the lucrative sector is attracting companies from around the world, each leveraging its own strengths to tap into the market. Chinese enterprises are seeking to expand overseas through collaboration and ecosystem development, while foreign-funded companies see the Chinese market as a driver of future growth, according to senior executives.

Global Home Furnishing Hub, an integrated platform dedicated to helping Chinese home and appliance brands expand overseas, was launched during the 2026 Home Brands Going Global Summit held in Shanghai on Sept 5.

As the first of its kind in China, the platform is designed to meet the overseas expansion needs of Chinese home and appliance brands by providing services such as market insights, channel connections, compliance consulting and brand development.

Jointly established by the Shanghai-based home decoration and furniture mall operator Red Star Macalline Group Corp Ltd, the China International Furniture Fair (Shanghai) and International Building & Construction Trade Fair (Shanghai), the center marks the Chinese home industry's transition from companies pursuing overseas expansion independently to a new stage of ecosystem-based globalization.

Li Yupeng, chairman of Red Star Macalline Group Corp Ltd, said the company's decision to use the platform in its global expansion plans is encouraged by the new measures issued by government departments in support of large retailers looking to expand overseas.

Li was referring to the guidelines on accelerating the innovative development of the retail sector jointly issued in July by nine government departments including the Ministry of Commerce, which supports large retailers in expanding overseas through their own channels, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, among other approaches.

Zhu Jiagui, executive president of Red Star Macalline Group Corp Ltd, said the company positions itself as an "ecosystem connector" for Chinese companies expanding overseas, linking domestic brands, distributors and service providers on one end with overseas partners, agents and service providers on the other.

Li Yang, partner and executive business director of MSC Consulting, has forecast the global home furnishings retail market will have a growth rate of between 5 and 7 percent in the coming years.

According to Li, growth in global home furnishings consumption is increasingly shifting toward emerging markets, but entry barriers and competitive dynamics vary significantly across regions, which requires companies to choose markets matching their own strengths and capabilities.

In 2025, China's exports of furniture and related components amounted to 455.9 billion yuan ($68 billion), with cross-border e-commerce exports reaching 473.55 billion yuan, according to the organizers of the 58th China International Furniture Fair (Shanghai).

Simon Lichtenberg, founder and CEO of Shanghai-based furniture manufacturer Trayton Group, is looking to expand in the opposite direction, as he is looking to tap into the domestic Chinese market.

As a Danish entrepreneur who has spent more than 30 years working in China's manufacturing sector, Lichtenberg has witnessed the country's opening-up and the continuous improvement of its business environment.

"China offers the greatest potential in the global home furnishings market. Take sofas as an example: China and the United States together account for about half of global sofa sales," he said.