Everything started at CIFF (China International Furniture Fair), one of the greatest furniture fair in the world, where the most important American and Chinese producers and players from all over the world were present. Firstly, meetings between their respective institutions and business organizations, then strategic agreements. Today, the first market operations.
CIFF is a colossus which moves goods and money since 1998, year from which growth rates in Eastern markets multiplied it in more editions and phases: initially only in Gyangzhou and then in Shangai. In 2016, this event covered an exposition of 1 million and 150 thousand square meters, with 6 thousand of exhibitors and 250 thousand buyers from 200 countries in the world.
The project of a strategic partnership with High Point Market has arisen thanks to this context. This last one is a worldwide exhibition center which attracts a community of 75 thousand people every 6 months in the North Carolina.
18th March 2015 during the opening ceremony of the 37th CIFF in Guangzhou, China Foreign Trade Exhibition (organism which rules the fair together with Ministry of Commerce of the people’s Republic of China) announced the ratification of the cooperation agreement with the High Point Market Authority. The partnership would be based on a series of actions, aiming at implementing the presence of Chinese producers in USA and American ones in China.
Since then, some important initiatives have unfolded. Starting from the Pinnacle Awards Asia-Pacific first edition which, last September during the 40th CIFF in Shangai, rewarded first 30 best projects presented by Asian furniture designers within 16 categories. The award, organized thanks to the cooperation between CIFF and American Society of Furniture Designers (ASFD), encourages the development of an original idea in a country which has often tried to regain the initial gap towards the Western production through copies and counterfeits. Furthermore, by virtue of Chinese-American agreements, Pinnacle winners will have a golden key to enter in the American market.
Far more interesting is the partnership between CIFF and Tmall, B2B platform of Alibaba e-commerce, which markets about 70 thousand brands for a turnout of more than 200 million potential customers. The alliance allows to CIFF exhibitors (preferably American) to access the online platform, benefiting from the special channel Tmall Global which brings foreign companies in the Chinese market, without opening a company in the Asian country. The partnership has also created My Dream Life, an initiative which engenders new trends, new lifestyles for all age groups together with the contemporary promotion of related products, both online and offline.