On September 6, 2026, the 58th CIFF Shanghai and CBD Shanghai 2026 officially kicked off concurrently at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) in Shanghai. As a bellwether for the global home furnishing and building materials industries, this synergistic dual exhibition spans over 220,000 square meters and gathers more than 1,400 renowned brands from home and abroad. Centered on the theme of "Design, Digital Intelligence, and Sustainability," the event comprehensively connects the entire industrial chain of home furnishing and building materials. It aims to accelerate the development of an industry empowerment platform that integrates domestic and foreign trade, presenting global buyers with a grand cross-industry showcase.
In Hall 4.1 Design, a Nordic imported design collective exhibition themed "South of the North" has become a must-visit destination for attendees. Departing from traditional neat arrangements, the exhibition area uses "ice" and "snow" as its visual core, cleverly employing "iceberg" installations to divide the space into three immersive chapters: "A Day in the Ice," "Four Seasons in the Snow," and "A New Order at Sea." Walking through the venue, reporters observed that 17 top Nordic design brands, including Verpan, &Tradition, Ferm Living, and Artek, have brought not only classic chairs and lighting fixtures but also a full range of home products covering tableware and soft furnishings. Visitors are free to sit down, experience the textures of fabrics amidst cool-toned lighting, and feel the role of design in enhancing emotional well-being.
Zhu Jiagui, Executive President of Red Star Macalline Home Furnishings Group, revealed on-site that this is not merely a standard exhibition, but the launchpad for Red Star Macalline's new "Premium Curation" business. He stated candidly that the current home furnishing market is undergoing profound changes, and retail formats must be adjusted accordingly. In the past, Nordic brands were scattered throughout the malls; now, by aggregating them through "supply chain logic," the company not only meets the aesthetic demands of young consumers but also helps dealers achieve efficient business matching. It is reported that these "Nordic Lifestyle Stores" will not be rolled out in a cookie-cutter fashion, but will fully respect local characteristics. The first batch of stores will open in Zhengzhou and Beijing at the end of September this year, with Shanghai and Chongqing also in the pipeline.
At the other end of the exhibition, NEST SPACE, a brand with pure Danish DNA, also captured the spotlight. Simon Lichtenberg, the brand's founder and a Danish entrepreneur who has been based in Shanghai for over 30 years, was busy unveiling new products. He has brought the Danish concept of "Hygge"—a sense of comfort and coziness—to Chinese consumers, along with a pragmatic "Hundred-Store Initiative." "The Chinese market is indeed fiercely competitive right now, with intense price wars," Lichtenberg said candidly in an interview. "But we don't intend to exhaust ourselves in price wars. Instead, we will leverage China's mature manufacturing system to create highly cost-effective original designs."
Lichtenberg has keenly perceived the profound shift in Chinese consumption habits: in the past, consumers bought furniture mainly when moving to a new home or buying a new house, whereas the current trend is to upgrade their existing quality of life. He noted that young people today no longer blindly pursue the traditional layout of "sofas facing the TV," but rather prioritize the comfort and sense of personal enjoyment in their private spaces. Based on this precise insight, NEST SPACE's future expansion will move beyond traditional large home furnishing malls and penetrate urban commercial complexes and even areas along subway lines where young people gather, leveraging social media platforms like Xiaohongshu to directly reach target users.
Under the functional positioning of "dual circulation," this exhibition is not only an important window for overseas brands to enter the Chinese market but also a broad springboard for Chinese brands to go global. On the opening day, the "2026 Home Furnishing Brand Global Market Expansion Conference" was held concurrently. Li Yupeng, Chairman of Red Star Macalline Home Furnishings Group, clearly stated at the conference that overseas expansion has been officially established as the enterprise's "second growth curve." "Red Star Macalline is committed to becoming an 'ecosystem service provider' for the global expansion of China's home furnishing industry, facilitating the internationalization of the industry ecosystem and forging an internationalization path with Chinese characteristics," Li emphasized.
Deng Jingjing, Deputy General Manager of Sinoexpo, also pointed out that Sinoexpo will promote the industry's transformation towards value growth characterized by "scenario-driven, service-oriented, and brand-focused" development by building a comprehensive service system for product export, brand cultivation, and overseas deployment.
Reporters observed on-site that the biggest highlight of this year's exhibition lies in the meticulous creation of five new scenarios: Convergence, Aesthetics, Linkage, Expansion, and Intelligence. Furniture and building materials, soft furnishings and whole-home customization are no longer isolated but deeply converge within the same venue. From the digital scenarios in the New Retail Exhibition Area of Hall 3, to the debut of 10,000 new products in the Sofa Hall 2.1, to the "Design Source" thematic exhibition gathering over 40 brands, the event comprehensively responds to contemporary themes such as healing, sustainability, and Oriental aesthetics. Precise matchmaking for overseas buying groups and cross-disciplinary joint exhibitions by designer creators make the Hongqiao venue not only a hub for business negotiations but also a highland for intellectual exchange within the industry.
The dual exhibitions will continue until September 8. In this autumn showcase, from the global "product sourcing system" to the "ecosystem-led global expansion" of Chinese manufacturing, Shanghai has once again demonstrated to the world its robust industrial chain integration capabilities as an international trade center and a capital of fashion and design.