North Carolina,US:China has become North Carolina's fastest growing importer of furniture,according to US news media,Fox Eight.
China is now the fifth largest importer of North-Carolina-made furniture,behind Canada,Japan,Saudi Arabia and UAE.The station reported that shipments to China are growing fast,with shipments from the state in 2011 amounting to US$40 million.This was equivalent to 23 percent of all US furniture exports to China.
The media station interviewed Baker Furniture's director of Asia Pacific sales,Ed Morris,who said Chinese consumers are willing to pay the price for US-made furnishings.They typically pay around 15 percent more than the product would sell for in the US.Baker is now sold in seven Chinese cities,but Mr Morris said the company's plan is to be present in 22 Chinese cities by 2015.
Fox Eight reporter,Nicole Ferguson,travelled to Beijing,where she followed the purchase of US$500,000 of Baker and Lexington Home Brands furniture from the showroom of C&U International to the US$6 million condominium apartment of a wealthy Chinese businesswoman.The report mentioned that the Chinese are brand conscious people:Especially those who have travelled in the US and Europe.
