Japan-China: Wood Use Promotion Seminar 2012

The Japan Wood-Products Export Promotion Council and the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) co-organized a seminar titled “Japan-China Wood Use Promotion Seminar 2012” in Tokyo in this fall. Four lecturers from Chinese enterprises visited Japan to introduce completed buildings and planned cases with a plenty of pictures to the Japanese audience who learnt with interest the current situation of wood usage in China, which is advancing at an incredible speed.

Jetro currently prioritizes its support for the export of seven agricultural and marine products including wood. China is an important market for Japan, as it consumes 430 million cubic meters of wood per year. The person in charge from Jetro showed their high interest and expressed that changes in design criteria for wooden structure and organizing business meetings will be quite essential approaches in order to achieve their goals.

The demand for interior work in China is expected to be over 5.85 million units of new houses per year, and over 10 million units of home remodeling. The most common way of interior work is custom-made, sharing 60% of the market. Simple-style interior takes half (50%) of the market. Ecology will be the keyword for the interior market in the future. China is the largest country for production, export, and consumption of furniture in the world.