You might have noticed there is a building boom in China at the moment. While Australian companies are not likely to participate in construction, there is a market for high quality windows and doors that is said to be ‘The most promising market in China in the next decade.’

The last fifteen years has seen tremendous growth in China’s real estate market. During this time developers built quickly and the quality was often overlooked. In particular, the quality of the movable parts of buildings, the windows and doors were taken for granted and even buyers weren’t much concerned about the quality of these important elements. But things are changing as European manufacturers of system windows and doors enter the Chinese market, starting with Schüco in 2000.

More recently the Chinese government has strengthened the requirements for energy saving and windows and doors are getting a lot more attention from both buyers and developers. Chinese consumers are demanding more as the standard of living improves exponentially; there are more millionaires in China than any other country and they crave products from overseas. While there are a reported 40,000 window and door manufacturers in China, they mostly lack the technical know-how required to produce a quality product that meets environmental standards.

Commercial residential buildings in China account for over a million square metres of window and door area every year. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry and only expected to increase. At the moment this market is being serviced by small companies with less than one percent coming from companies with what’s known as ‘system’ windows and doors; or a manufacturing solution where a catalogue can be used to select products that fit together in a system. While most Chinese windows and doors can be characterised by poor quality and low cost; regions such as Eastern and Northern China in both detached houses and high-rise developments are demanding a much higher quality product with exceptional design characteristics.

Since 2015 there has been a demand for the replacement of millions of windows and doors that were poorly constructed and no longer function properly. In addition, the well-educated post-1990’s consumer has a strong desire for quality and premium products, especially from outside the country. Bragging rights feature strongly in China and imported products from ‘the west’ are in big demand. Brand recognition is most important to the Chinese consumer. Companies able to bring entire systems for windows and doors into China are able to get a slice of a huge market with the help of a trusted Chinese partner. Hu Baosheng of system window and door supplier Shenyang Ladau said “The gap between western and Chinese system windows and doors is clear. We wish to forge ties with overseas companies in R&D and market expansion.” The Chinese window and door fair Fenestration Bau China will be held late October this year in Beijing, China.