by Martina Fuchs

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The CEO of IKEA, the world's home furnishing giant, told Xinhua at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Thursday that China is a "super important market" and that the company is expanding its retail footprint.

"China is a super important market for us. From an IKEA sourcing perspective, it is really important. Also, we are investing in recycling capabilities, making recycled products and then investing in companies", IKEA CEO Juvencio Maeztu said.

IKEA entered the mainland Chinese market in 1998. Apart from running bricks-and-mortar stores in many big cities on the mainland, it also operates its own online sales platform, while running stores on e-commerce platforms JD.com and Alibaba Group.

"On the retail side, we are also expanding and are adjusting the footprint. We are opening new stores in Beijing and Shenzhen, the first coming next month and the next one coming in April," Maeztu explained.

"China is super important for us from the full scale of the value chain. There are many homes in China that need to have IKEA furniture," he said.

Maeztu spent the last 25 years within IKEA in different roles, starting out in the early 2000s as store manager in Spain. In November, he succeeded Jesper Brodin who had served as IKEA CEO for the past eight years.

Asked about his global business and performance outlook for 2026, Maeztu expressed caution and optimism.

"The good thing in IKEA is that we are really focused on making life at home as affordable as possible for everyone. This is a time when people need affordability the most," said the CEO.

"We are well placed with all the capabilities we have in omnichannel, and we are determined to be as close as possible to as many people as possible," he added. ■