In 2002, China's total furniture output value arrived at USD 20 billion, an equivalent of RMB 165 billion, accounting for 10% of the world's total furniture output value. In the past five years, China's furniture export has grown at an annual rate of over 30%. The big furniture demanding countries in the world have flocked into China to purchase furniture. According to the statistics from Europe, in 2002, China exported furniture of USD 4 billion to the US, USD 750 million to Japan, about 15% of Japan's total furniture demand, USD 150 million to Germany, USD 105 million to France and USD 280 to Britain. China is the second largest furniture importer of Britain after Italy. IKEA, the top-ranking furniture company in terms of sales in the world, has shifted its purchasing center from Singapore to the Mainland China. It has established five purchasing centers in Harbin, Qsingtao, Guangzhou, Yunan Province and Shanghai. For example, it purchases 300 containers of furniture in Tsingtao every month and sells them to the whole world. A Shanghai-based sofa factory manufactures sofas of RMB 100 million for IKEA every year. Dongguan is an important furniture production base in China. At present, there are more than 2,000 furniture manufactures in Dongguan and the annual production value of these manufacturers exceed RMB 10 billion. A furniture purchasing group from the US purchases furniture of 500 containers and send them back to the US. At present, thousands of independent furniture retail groups in Europe, including 18,000 from Italy and 3,000 from Germany, are considering to purchase furniture from Asian countries, including China, Indonesia and Philippines. Germany sent a large delegation to participate in the eighth China International Furniture Fair held in Shanghai last year. The reasons for China to become the global purchasing center include: First, the world's furniture manufacturing industry has transferred to China. The US, Japan and Italy have established factories in China. Taiwan region has also built more than 500 furniture plants in the Mainland. Three US office furniture groups with annual production values of USD 1.5 billion, USD2.7 billion and USD 3 billion have all constructed production bases in Shanghai. Second, China's furniture capacity has increased. Guangdong Province, the biggest furniture manufacturing province in China, produces one third of furniture of China's total furniture production. A Guangdong-based Taiwan-funded furniture enterprise exports furniture of USD 200 million every year. Shenzhen and Dongguan each produce more than RMB 10 billion of furniture every year. A foreign-funded furniture factory in Shanghai Nanhui District exports USD 100 million of furniture every year. A private enterprise in Jiading District produces and exports RMB 10 billion of furniture each year. China's furniture production capacity even surprises Europeans. Last, China's furniture can be neck to neck to the world trend in product, style and design. Some big factories in Guangdong, Beijing and Shanghai retain world-famous furniture designers to design products. Most importantly, China's furniture has a high performance-price ratio.