Sourcing furniture from Foshan and Dongguan: markets, factories and the rules in your market

Where is furniture made in Guangdong?

Mainly in Foshan and Dongguan, with Guangzhou, Zhongshan and Jiangmen also named. The sources below are Chinese government bodies and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).

For most household and contract furniture, Foshan and Dongguan are the first search. For rosewood furniture, the Zhongshan source points to Dachong; for fitted and made-to-measure furnishing, Guangzhou's plan is relevant. Is your product made in Guangdong? sets furniture beside other categories, including those with a major cluster outside the province.

Sources checked: Guangdong light-industry cluster plan (in Chinese); national advanced manufacturing cluster list, as republished by Heilongjiang's industry department (in Chinese; credited to China Industry News); HKTDC city profiles for Foshan, Dongguan and Zhongshan; HKTDC Dongguan supplier profile; Guangzhou fashion-cluster plan (in Chinese); Guangdong Local Chronicles Office on Foshan (in Chinese). Checked 24 September 2026.

Should you buy in a Lecong furniture mall or from a factory?

It depends on whether you are buying existing designs or your own. In a furniture town you meet sellers in three forms, and they suit different orders:

A mall visit is a good way to shortlist styles and price levels, but the showroom is not the production line. Before you order, find out who makes the piece and see the factory where you can. Assembling a mixed container from several sellers also means someone must consolidate the goods, check them and load them. Agree who does that in writing. The checks in how to check a Chinese supplier before you pay apply to a mall stand as much as to a supplier found online.

Not sure which kind of supplier you're dealing with? Factory or trading company? covers how to tell, and when a trader is fine. Finding suppliers in China compares markets, fairs, platforms and agents.

What does a furniture brief need to specify?

The materials in enough detail for your market's rules, not only for the look. Alongside the general points in how to write a sourcing brief:

• Timber. The species and the country where it was harvested, for solid wood and veneers. Timber-legality and deforestation rules ask for this, so a supplier who can't say is a warning sign.
• Panels. Whether MDF, particleboard or plywood is acceptable. These are composite wood products, which some markets regulate for formaldehyde emissions.
• Upholstery. Cover fabric, foam and fillings, and the fire test your market requires. Name it in the brief so the factory buys compliant materials from the start.
• Stability. For chests of drawers, wardrobes and bookcases, whether your market sets a tip-over test or a warning label, and whether an anchoring kit goes in the box.
• Finish. Lacquer, stain or paint colour, with a physical reference.
• Dimensions and tolerances, and the load the piece must carry.
• Assembly, labels and instructions, in the languages of your markets.

Knock-down or assembled: how does packing shape the order?

Furniture ships as volume, so the packed carton often matters as much as the piece. Knock-down (flat-pack) furniture fits more pieces into a container. It needs a hardware pack, clear instructions and parts that go together at the customer's end. Fully assembled furniture arrives ready to use but takes more space and more protective packing.

Ask each supplier for the packed carton dimensions and how many pieces fit in the container size you plan to use. That figure lets you compare offers on the same basis. Wooden crates and pallets also have their own import rules in some markets, separate from the furniture; Canada's and New Zealand's pages in the table below cover them.

How do samples and minimum order quantities work for furniture?

A minimum order quantity (MOQ) is the smallest order a supplier will accept. For furniture, ask whether it applies per model, per fabric or per finish, and whether a mixed container can meet it.

• Pay for a sample of the exact specification: your fabric, foam, finish and panel type, not the showroom version.
• Ask for fabric and finish swatches before the full sample, and keep a signed set.
• Ask which test reports cover the sample's construction for your market's fire, stability or formaldehyde rules.
• Keep the approved sample, or detailed photos and measurements, as the reference for inspection.

Samples from China covers requesting, paying for and judging samples for any product.

What drives a furniture quote?

These factors, not any published figure:

• timber species and grade, and whether the supplier can document its origin;
• panel type and any formaldehyde certification your market needs;
• upholstery materials that meet your market's fire rules;
• finish and hardware;
• packed volume, and knock-down or assembled;
• testing for your market and whether usable reports already exist;
• order quantity, and whether it is one model or a mixed container;
• payment terms: the deposit, when the balance falls due and how it is paid, covered in paying a Chinese supplier safely;
• the Incoterms. These are the standard trade terms, such as EXW (ex works) or FOB (free on board), that set where the supplier's cost and risk end and yours begin.

MOQs and what drives a quote explains how each of these moves a price. Some markets apply trade-remedy duties (anti-dumping or countervailing duties) to particular goods from particular countries. Check with the authority for your market, listed under the rules below, before you compare landed costs. Then compare quotes on the same basis, as covered in how to compare supplier quotes.

We don't publish prices because the quote depends on the scope above. If you want it scoped for your product, send a sourcing brief. We'll tell you if Guangdong isn't the right place for it.

Which rules apply to furniture in your market?

Furniture rules differ between markets in ways that change the materials and the paperwork. The pages below are official starting points; they are signposts, not advice on what applies to your product. For customs and general product safety, see import rules by country.

Fire, stability and formaldehyde

Timber legality, deforestation and biosecurity

Some timber species are also controlled under CITES, the convention on trade in endangered species; the European Commission's wildlife trade page notes that it covers timber. Check the species before you commit to a design.

Trade remedies: UK Trade Remedies Authority, EU trade defence, US antidumping and countervailing duties, Canada (CBSA), Australia's Anti-Dumping Commission, New Zealand (MBIE).

Everywhere else: start with your country's customs authority, its product-safety regulator and, for timber, its plant-biosecurity authority. Ask the supplier which of your market's test reports it already holds.

Rules checked: every link above on 24 September 2026. Review due by March 2027. This is not legal or compliance advice.

Which furniture fair should you go to, and when?

The two March fairs make one trip; the Canton Fair is the October option.

3F and the first CIFF phase overlap, so plan which days go to each. CIFF Guangzhou on a first visit covers the two phases, registration and the questions to ask at each booth. If you are also buying lighting for the same project, see sourcing lighting from Guzhen. Which trade fair for which product compares fairs across categories, and planning a sourcing trip to Guangdong covers factory visits around a fair.

Sources checked: the fair sites linked above, and the Ministry of Commerce's introduction to the 140th Canton Fair for the Phase 2 sectors. Checked 24 September 2026.