Policy Support Drives Transformation: 2026 Becomes a Critical Year for the Furniture Industry
Since the start of 2026, the furniture industry has stood at the intersection of policy dividends and industrial adjustment. While multiple policy incentives continue to be released to boost growth, the industry also faces long-standing challenges, pushing it toward high-quality development.
On the policy front, warm signals keep coming to inject strong momentum into the industry. The 2026 Central Government Document No.1 includes smart home appliances and green building materials in the key areas for rural consumption upgrading, further expanding the sink market. Nine ministries including the Ministry of Commerce launched a new Spring Festival trade-in policy, increasing subsidies and focusing on supporting offline physical stores, which aligns with the furniture consumption characteristics of emphasizing experience and service. Guangdong’s 264.2 billion yuan in trade-in sales in 2025 also confirms the strong effect of policies in driving consumption. Meanwhile, the first national standard Guidelines for the Design of Elderly-Friendly Furniture has been implemented, and the Beijing Elderly-Oriented Renovation Industry Alliance was established, driving the industry to tap into the silver economy. The launch of Foshan Furniture Collective Trademark and the opening of Nankang Furniture Paris Office demonstrate the transformation of Chinese furniture brands from "individual competition" to "group going global" .
At the same time, the industry still faces many challenges. Data from the China Consumers Association shows that there were nearly 38,000 furniture-related complaints in 2025, with contract traps, hidden consumption, and prepayment disputes remaining the main pain points. Offline channels are under obvious pressure: Markor Furniture’s subsidiary suspended production, and IKEA closed 7 large offline stores, indicating the decline of the traditional large-store model and forcing channel transformation. Against this background, the industry is showing three major transformation trends: channels are shifting from "scale expansion" to "efficiency improvement", with brands accelerating the layout of community stores and localized formats; industry norms are moving from "passive response" to "active construction", with enterprises taking the initiative to combat counterfeiting and improve management; consumer protection is changing from "post-event rights protection" to "pre-event prevention", with policies and enterprises working together to plug consumption loopholes .
In the future, the key to breaking through the furniture industry lies in laying a solid foundation with standards and seeking transformation through innovation. Relying on policy dividends, enterprises should tap into multiple opportunities such as the sink market, silver economy, and overseas trade to achieve synergy between policies, enterprises, and the market.
