Manufacturers of high-end furniture in and around Asahikawa in Hokkaido are planning to advance to China to expand their sales to rich people, at a time when the Japanese furniture industry is losing ground in the face of mass-produced cheap Chinese products. According to industrial statistics from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, shipments of domestically produced furniture and accessories, which peaked in 1991 with about 4.15 trillion yen in value, plunged more than half to some 1.88 trillion yen in 2008. Chinese products have sharply grabbed huge shares in the domestic market. In the meantime, members of the Asahikawa Furniture Industrial Cooperative Society are calling for their advance to China to fight the surge of cheap Chinese products. Several members of the society are scheduled to exhibit their products at an international furniture fair to be held in China shortly. Other areas in Japan are also trying to advance to China. The International Development Association of the Furniture Industry of Japan in Tokyo will participate for the first time in the China International Furniture Exhibition to be held in Dalian, Liaoning Province, in June. The Cooperative Association Okawa Furniture Industry is now trying to develop the domestic market by holding domestic exhibitions four times a year.