Longjiang Town is the well-known transaction center of furniture material. For this
reason, “Longjiang Model” is generated, which represent the Furniture Industry of
Shunde. There are four characteristics of “Longjiang Model”:
1. Mainly Labor-Intensive Industry with Collective Ownership
Longjiang furniture enterprises have more than 1,200 factories, which
account for one fifth of the whole province. There are also over 500 subsidiaries
distributed in different areas with nearly 50,000 employees. Furniture Industry
is a labor-oriented industry with low capital and technology requirement.
Therefore, with the relatively low starting capital, this industry has attracted
many small scale collective enterprises. Mostly, their average employees are
only about 19.8 person.
2. Target in Domestic Market
Similar to household electric appliance industry, furniture industry in
Shunde still target to local market, which is restricted to their small scale and
low R&D techniques. However, there are some exceptions, in which some
individual large enterprises are able to establish sales connections to Hong
Kong, Taiwan and southeastern countries. In 1999, the amount of export has
reached 12 million yuan.
3. Diversified and High-Quality Furniture Products
Extensive production line is the main characteristic of Longjiang
Furniture industry. From Production of Sofa to kitchen furniture collection, they
can keep their quality at a high level. At the same time, some enterprises
introduce ISO9000 quality management System to assure their qualities.
4. Rapid Growth of Secondary Industry
Longjiang Town was a fish pond town before the open door policy.
After 20 years of rapid development, it gradually becomes a manufacturing
and commercial town in Shunde. In terms of real GDP composition, the
primary sector’s share decreased from 21.3% in 1994 to 10.3% in 1999.
However, the secondary sector’s share increased from 43.7% in 1994 to
54.3% in 1999. The third sector’s share has reached to 45% in 1996, which
has reached its climax and then returning to 35.4% in 1999. It is noteworthy
that the average GDP growth was around 103.4%1
Exploitation of Overseas Markets
Being well known for its furniture industry, Shunde is not bounded by its
local market and brand name, but also actively exploring the overseas markets. In
order to attract more business and FDI, Shunde local government has held some
Furniture Fairs and exhibitions such as the Dragon Excellent Furniture Exhibition,
China (Lecong) International Furniture Fair.
Recently, the 5th Dragon Excellent Furniture Fair has been held from 17th to
20th March, 2003. The Fair was located in the “Furniture Town” in Shunde----
Longjiang Town, which attracted the furniture industry giant from France, Dutch,
Singapore and Canada. The center has four floors, and each floor is 10,000 square
meters, of which total exhibition area is 40,000 square meters and which there are
2,600 standard booth.
Another trade exhibition, the China (Lecong) International Furniture Fair
have been hold yearly for the third times. It is approved by China Foreign Trade
Department, attracting 600 exhibitors from China and overseas and it received a
great support by Shunde People’s government. This Fair held lots of activities other
than Furniture Fair, such as China furniture forum, Furniture & Furnishings design
contest and Order trading meeting. Those fairs and exhibitions give a valuable
chance for local furniture enterprises to present their products more worldwidely.
Lecong is a national furniture distribution centre. Its sales reached US$ 1 billion in
2001, with a cluster of 3000 furniture enterprises. Moreover, Hong Kong and
overseas companies (mainly from South East Asia) have set up sales offices and
retail outlets over there (Hong Kong Trade Development Council).
