A single livestream session in Shaji Town, Suining County, recently generated 1.81 billion yuan in gross merchandise value, a striking figure achieved outside of major shopping festivals like "618" or "11.11." This impressive performance has once again put the spotlight on the self-proclaimed "China's No.1 Furniture E-Commerce Town."
Chen Bin, chairman of Jiangsu Blue Ocean Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd., attributes the enduring sales strength of Shaji's e-commerce operators to their robust supporting industries and supply chain infrastructure, even amid fierce competition in the sector.
"Shaji's edge lies not just in its furniture manufacturing cluster, but also in its cost-effective logistics and highly responsive supply chain," Chen stated. He noted that the "Shaji Model" has undergone continuous iterations, with the business landscape constantly refreshing. Local e-commerce ventures are shifting from traditional catalog-based models to livestream selling, and leading enterprises are opening up their supply chains to smaller local merchants, fostering a collaborative approach to improve the entire regional e-commerce ecosystem.
Since its beginnings in 2006, the "Shaji Model" has navigated through several key phases, from initial startup and rapid expansion to a focus on quality and efficiency. This journey marks a systemic shift from rough, scale-driven growth to a more refined, high-quality development path.
To counter the early-stage problems of scattered operations, low-end products, and heavy market homogenization, local authorities implemented targeted policies and systematic reforms. These have comprehensively driven the transformation and upgrading of the e-commerce industry in the area.
One key initiative has been the establishment of a wood quality testing laboratory to standardize production. This guides companies away from imitation and toward original design, encouraging them to specialize in niche home furnishing categories to escape the trap of low-quality, low-price competition.
In parallel, the focus has shifted toward digitalization, branding, and international expansion. Efforts are being channeled into cultivating a distinct "cross-border e-commerce + home furnishing" industrial belt, promoting brand building, upgrading intelligent manufacturing, and accelerating the digital transformation of factories. These steps are designed to steadily enhance product quality, technological content, and market value.
A visit to the production floor of Jiangsu Dingyue Home Furnishing Co., Ltd. reveals workers efficiently packing office furniture destined for a U.S. overseas warehouse. General Manager Fang Hongwei explains that he chose to set up in Shaji back in 2015, drawn by the area's comprehensive furniture manufacturing capacity, mature logistics support, and cost advantages.
In a strategic move for 2025, Jiangsu Dingyue Home Furnishing Co., Ltd. partnered with Zhejiang Hengjian Home Furnishing Co., Ltd., a leading domestic cross-border e-commerce exporter, to collaborate on overseas supply chains. This partnership enables direct shipments from local sources and rapid fulfillment of international orders, with projections indicating cross-border export volumes exceeding 20 million yuan for the full year of 2026.
Li Xiaojie, director of the Investment Promotion Service Center at the Suining County Commerce Bureau, views cross-border e-commerce as a crucial gateway for the local home furnishing industry's transformation and expansion into new markets. The government is actively building service platforms and pooling resources to cultivate more businesses with cross-border capabilities, guiding leading local e-commerce firms to jointly explore international opportunities.
Today, cross-border e-commerce in Suining County has evolved from tentative experiments into a scaled and clustered development phase, with a steady stream of high-quality local furniture products reaching overseas consumers.