CIFF Guangzhou 2027: dates, sectors and visiting the furniture fair

CIFF Guangzhou is the major international furniture fair held every year in Guangzhou, in southern China. The March 2027 edition runs in two distinct phases, with different exhibitors and halls for each, which means choosing the right window depending on the furniture you are looking for.

Both phases are held at the same exhibition hub as the Canton Fair, the Pazhou complex, supplemented by the PWTC Expo for some of the halls. Always confirm the exact dates for your phase on the official site ciff-gz.com before booking a flight or hotel, as the organiser can adjust calendar details from one announcement to the next.

The home furniture phase, from 18 to 21 March 2027, brings together high-end furniture, whole-collection furniture sold as complete sets, whole-home customisation, upholstered furniture, home textiles and outdoor furniture. This is the phase that interests most buyers sourcing residential furniture for an online store or a physical retail outlet in Europe.

The office and commercial spaces phase, from 28 to 31 March 2027, covers office seating, smart office solutions, commercial space fit-out, school furniture and furniture for healthcare and seniors, as well as a section dedicated to manufacturing machinery, accessories and furniture hardware. A buyer whose range covers both residential and professional furniture should plan to stay on-site for the time separating the two phases, or to return a week later.

Access to the fair is reserved for professionals, with a named badge obtained after online pre-registration on the official site. According to the calendar announced for the 2027 edition, the pre-registration portal opens between 90 and 120 days before the opening, so around November or December 2026, and closes between 3 and 7 days before the first day of the phase concerned.

The badge is free for a buyer who completes online pre-registration in time: the system announced by the organiser automatically waives entry fees once the application is approved. Collection then takes place on site, at a counter dedicated to foreign buyers, which gives access to reserved queues.

The March 2026 edition occupied around 90 halls across 850,000 square metres: no one can walk the entire fair in a single phase. Pre-selecting exhibitors by furniture category, done from the online catalogue a few weeks before departure, changes the quality of the visit far more than improvising on site.

Hotels near Pazhou and the PWTC fill up and raise their rates as the date approaches, a phenomenon already familiar to visitors of the Canton Fair held at the same complex. Book as soon as the official calendar for your phase is confirmed, and prepare precise specifications, translated if possible, for each furniture category you are looking for.

The previous edition, held from 18 to 21 March and 28 to 31 March 2026, gives a useful sense of scale for preparing 2027, though these figures do not prejudge the next edition. It brought together more than 5,100 exhibiting brands from 36 countries and regions, across around 850,000 square metres spread over 90 halls.

On attendance, the organiser announced 353,106 professional visitors from 185 countries and regions, including 64,291 international visitors, up 13.2% on the previous edition. This volume confirms CIFF Guangzhou's place among the world's furniture events, alongside the Canton Fair held at the same site at other times of the year.

The fair is for discovering ranges, comparing finishes and meeting suppliers with a minimum of travel, not for approving a supplier. A stand you like must then go through the same steps as a contact found elsewhere: checking the Chinese company's registration, requesting a reference sample, then, for a volume commitment, a visit or audit of the production workshop.

Furniture adds constraints specific to the sector: volume and weight that weigh heavily on sea freight cost, wood species and treatments to check against the destination market, and packaging strength against repeated handling. These points are framed before the pilot order, not after receiving a first container that reveals an assembly defect or insufficient packaging.

Sorva is a trading and sourcing house based in Guangzhou and Paris. Our Chinese-speaking team on the ground shortlists the exhibitors relevant to your furniture range before the fair opens, holds meetings stand by stand during the chosen phase, then verifies and audits the suppliers selected once the fair ends.

In most cases you pay no fees: you open a file, we negotiate the merchandise on your behalf with the factory and we take a commission on its ex-works value. A guided day at a fair such as CIFF Guangzhou or the Canton Fair can be added to the file, as can a factory visit in Guangdong for the furniture suppliers selected.