The manufacturing industry is responsible for providing equipment for professional departments such as book and magazine packaging and decoration, commercial printing, office printing, and financial instruments. The equipment is led by printing presses for the five major printing methods: offset printing, gravure printing, flexographic printing, letterpress printing, and screen printing, as well as special printing, which drive the development of pre-press equipment and post-press processing equipment.
During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, the demand for printing equipment in China increased by 10% annually, making China a market with great potential in the world.
During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, the printing machinery industry developed rapidly. In 2004, the sales revenue of major printing machinery manufacturers increased by 70.8% compared with 2000, exceeding the target of the “15th Five-Year Plan”.
In 2006, the printing machinery industry achieved a total industrial output value of 12 billion yuan, with the printing industry purchasing approximately 8 billion yuan worth of domestically produced equipment and importing 1.63 billion US dollars (equivalent to 12.7 billion yuan) from abroad. The total sales of printing machinery and equipment in the Chinese printing market amounted to 20.7 billion yuan.
From January to December 2006, the total output of printing presses in China was 88,319.74 tons, an increase of 18.66% compared with the same period in 2005. From January to August 2007, the total output of printing presses in China was 65,715.39 tons, an increase of 13.66% compared with the same period in 2006.
The reform and opening up policy has brought boundless vitality to the printing press industry. In recent years, due to the increased market adaptability of its products, the printing press industry has become capable of meeting the diversified and comprehensive needs of the international market, and its products also have strong market competitiveness internationally.
The import and export of printing machinery has become one of the main driving forces for the development of the printing equipment manufacturing industry. In 2006, exports reached US$518 million, a year-on-year increase of 29.17%, while imports decreased by 2.34% year-on-year. This means that the export structure of printing machinery products has begun to undergo significant changes, with exports of printing machinery parts declining and exports of complete machines increasing. In particular, exports of post-press processing equipment have approached imports, and a trend of narrowing trade deficit has begun to emerge.
The relatively small number of patents granted to Chinese printing machinery and equipment manufacturers directly reflects the still low level of their independent innovation capabilities. Patent work, as a crucial aspect of the independent innovation mechanism, should be given serious attention by enterprises. They should strive to create an internal mechanism and atmosphere conducive to innovation, both to protect their intellectual property rights and to stimulate the innovative spirit of their scientific and technological personnel. Progress in patent work can be advanced through measures such as establishing digital workflow laboratories, organizing joint research organizations, and setting up an independent intellectual property rights reward system.
It is estimated that by 2010, the demand for printing machinery in China will exceed 40 billion yuan, with the demand for domestically produced printing machines exceeding 20 billion yuan, accounting for half of the total market capacity (imported printing machines are expected to reach 20 billion yuan). China will become a truly important global printing machine manufacturing base.