Then there are top end Chinese manufacturers co-producing with overseas partners. Just as an example a well-known British furniture company is sending their designers to a Chinese high quality manufacturer, designs are agreed and the production then mostly sold to Japan.
This is still the exception, not the norm but there are innovative and quality minded companies also in this business in China.
Several overseas furniture companies have also withdrawn from a joint venture and producing in China after being tricked by their Chinese partner resulting in sometimes major financial losses. Or in some cases the Chinese partner has taken over the overseas company.
As for IKEA, they do a lot of their global sourcing in China and Russia and the furniture one encounters in the US or Europe is likely to have been at least partially produced by suppliers from those countries.
Not to forget about traditional Chinese furniture also. Especially the Wuxi area still has skilled craftsmen who were somehow able to survive the Cultural Revolution.
Originally Posted by
mackenzie77
Just to add, you can also use a local furniture maker to copy more expensive stuff. The important thing is that it must be simple and geometric. If you have catalogues of stuff you like, you can take it to them and have them made for 40-75% of what you would be paying in the shops. Shops copying Italian designs have a pretty large range of prices for copies depending on how much you decide to substitute the expensive finishes/build qualities with cheaper ones.