Considered as one of the priciest furniture ever produced, a rosewood set that was recently displayed in Dongyang was valued at 500 million yuan ($80 million).
The rosewood set featured 22 pieces of furniture which includes closets, a desk, a chair and a bed. It was made from an over 1,000-year-old rosewood tree that weighed approximately four tons, as reported in October by 163.com, a news website.
Demand for rosewood furniture in China has grown exponentially over the past decade with the rise of the middle class. Data from Greenpeace, an international environmental protection organization, indicate that the rosewood furniture market was up to a hundred billion yuan in 2012 alone.
Because of relentless logging practices the world over, the rosewood species has suffered greatly. One of the many types of trees that have been cut, the Siamese rosewood, has been excessively harvested in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.
According to Ma Weidu, a famous rosewood expert, rosewood furniture has been sought after by the Chinese people since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) due to its rarity. Because of its price, it has become a status symbol, indicating that only the rich can afford it.
"As several of China's proletariat have risen to the status of middle class, so has the demand for furniture that demonstrate status symbol," Ma said.
The price of rosewood trees, as reported by the Global Times, has skyrocketed from 60,000 yuan per ton to 300,000 from 2010 to 2013. Due to an anti-corruption campaign in China, the price has reportedly dropped to around 150,000 yuan per ton.
There are about 33 species of rosewood and four of which grow in China. Rosewood has been used traditionally to make furniture because it has been proven to withstand degradation against termites and cold or hot weather for hundreds of years.
Because of the increasing demand for rosewood furniture, the rosewood species has been dwindling worldwide, as reported by Greenpeace.