Now, in a bid to reduce that gap, local governments in Shunde and other parts of Guangdong province are running various kinds of furniture design competitions, with prizes of up to 100,000 yuan.

Yuan Zehong founded Yitong Design in Shunde two years ago and already enjoys annual growth of 40 to 50 percent in orders. Previously, he worked for several furniture companies after graduating from Shunde Polytechnic more than 10 years ago.

"It is more a case of technical problems than one of design," Yuan said of the challenges facing Chinese-made furniture.

"Chinese people have their own tastes. Italian exhibitions can provide inspiration for us but we still need to cater to local consumers' needs.

"But as more Shunde furniture companies develop toward the high-end market, design becomes important."

Vollodis Furniture, one of the top 10 producers of beds and mattresses in China, saw its revenue growth rate drop from 20 percent annually over the past five years to 15 percent in 2012. Its general manager, Zhou Zhenyang, said his company, which has a 12-strong design team among its 450 employees, is cooperating more with foreign and Chinese designers to improve the appearance and functionality of its products.

"Since I founded the company 15 years ago, we always have been trying to improve our design capability," he said. "We are also choosing talents from among top furniture design students at universities such as Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts."

Last year, Foshan Hong Qiao Furniture, one of China's largest office chair producers, invited Japanese designer Toshiyuki Kita to design its office furniture.

"Design is the core competitive strength of our company. Since we founded the company 13 years ago, we have been designing products based on our experience, and now we have a design team of 40 people," said general manager Zuo Boliang.

Besides design, the local government is also trying to promote the use of new materials.

"Promoting water-based paint is the most important job for 2013," said Qiao Xiaobin, director of Longjiang Economy Promotion Bureau.

"But, because of technical and cost problems, very few companies have adopted this environmentally friendly paint that will reduce pollution during production and pose fewer health hazards."

 

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