However, joining the WTO also implies that printing companies have to compete with other international companies. At present, there are over 2000 foreign-invested printing companies in China. Last year, nearly 100 foreign companies were allowed to operate in China, with a large number of them being packaging printers. Other worldwide publishing giants have attempted to acquire local companies. Local private-owned printing companies are also enlarging their investments and targeting Beijing and other major publishing cities. China’s printing industry, therefore, is becoming more internationalised, while competition is getting fiercer.
One of China’s advantages is its low labour cost. Each year, educated workers are joining the printing industry, and as such, the quality of labour has been enhanced. More companies are being set up by foreign investors in China, bringing along more employment opportunities and management experience. However, for many local companies, backward technologies, a consequence of limited capital, coupled with their inability to produce high quality and high-tech products makes it difficult to compete with the foreign companies. As a member of the WTO, China enjoys the benefits of free trade, which is helping to increase exports and expand the international market for publications, packaging and commercial printing. Lower tariffs on equipment will also allow printers to be more competitive. And as co-operation with foreign companies increase, local companies will gain from the inflow of foreign investment, advanced technology and management experience.
A Bright Future
Although printing is one of the most dominant industries in other countries, in China it is still under development. Since its economy and standard of living are both relatively low, it follows that its printing industry lags behind. In the new era, China aims to build a well-to-do society, raising the living standard. The printing industry will no doubt benefit from this economic growth and social improvement.
With continuing economic development, demand for consumer goods will increase in terms of quantity, quality and variety. In addition, education and technology industries will prosper; light industries will grow, as will tertiary industries like commerce, finance, insurance, and telecommunications. As a result, the demand for publications, packaging, commercial printing, and securities printing will greatly increase.
Printing technology is moving toward digitisation and web-based solutions. Today in the newspaper arena, editorial, printing and publishing are digitally networked. Publication printers are also dedicated to technological advancements and developing an all-digital prepress workflow in order to enhance printing quality and efficiency, as well as satisfy increasing demands for high-end products. The use of web-based job management systems and digitisation of contents also make repurposing possible, enabling printers to expand their services. Some printing companies are now conducting business via the internet.
Adoption of Computer-to-Plate
CtP is developing at a rapid rate in China. Currently there are roughly 150 installations, most of them newspaper printers, such as Yangcheng Evening News, Quanzhou Daily, and all claim a good return on investment. Newspaper printers have been affected the least by China’s entrance to the WTO, as they have always been able to afford the more advanced equipment.
In the book-printing segment, the adoption of CtP is relatively slower. This is mainly due to the high price of digital plates and the low quality needed for most publications. The demand for high-quality printed matter is also not as strong as overseas. But this will increase alongside the growth of the economy. Besides, China is developing its own digital plate manufacturing now, while the three major international plate suppliers, Agfa, Kodak, and Fuji have also set up factories in China. When these factories begin to introduce their products, plate prices in China will be lowered to an affordable level. As a result, the use of CtP in publication printing will become more popular.
Local plate manufacturers (digital plates included) will not be much affected by the influx of overseas manufacturers, as they target different kinds of customers. Overseas plates are superior in quality and suit the high-end market. Local plates are cheaper and more suitable for small-and-mediumsized printers. Hence, the China plate market will be complemented by different manufacturers.
• Today, there are more than 160,000 printing companies in China. About one-third of these are commercial printers, 18 percent are package printers and roughly 4 percent are publication printers. The balance includes typographers and others.
• The annual print consumption per capita is around € 18 ($ 20) in China, which equals only about one-twentieth to one-thirtieth of that in developed countries.
• In 2001, China printed 144.6 thousand million pages of printed matter amounting to 3.35 million tons of paper, an increase of 13.25% over the previous year.
• Each year China produces over 150,000 book, 8,000 magazine, and 2,000 newspaper titles.
• In 2001, the gross output of the printing industry in China was about 22,500 million euros (two hundred thousand million CNY, 24,000 million USD or 15,000 million GBP) with a profit of over 1,100 million euros (10,000 million CNY, 1,200 million USD or 750 million GBP) and this value increases by double digits every year.
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Re-published from Agfa’s Inter:Face publication with acknowledgements.
Visit Agfa’s website for more information.
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