Source: CCTV News Client

Digital Transformation of China’s Printing Industry: Intelligent Made-in-China Products Go Global

Printing is a relatively traditional manufacturing sector in China. The country boasts over 100,000 printing plants employing more than 2.4 million workers, generating an industrial output value of approximately RMB 1.44 trillion.

Reporters learned on-site that the highlight of this printing technology exhibition lies in the digital transformation of the printing sector, which fully demonstrates the strengths of Intelligent Made-in-China.

This printing & packaging quality inspection system represents the world’s cutting-edge intelligent packaging inspection solution integrating AI and optical technology. Take pharmaceutical cartons as an example: printing inkjet processes often generate various defects caused by falling dust, flying insects, ink splatters and other interferences. Conventional production workflows rely on manual visual comparison to spot flaws. Equipped with 8K industrial cameras serving as high-precision vision sensors, the system captures every inspected sample instantly. Powered by large-model deep learning, its AI core identifies defects on packaging moving along production lines at a speed of 13.3 meters per second, completing comparison and defect calculation in merely 8 milliseconds. The system supports predictive monitoring and early defect alerts to eliminate material waste from reprinting defective products.

Yang Bin, Vice Chairman of China Printing and Equipment Industry Association, stated: “Artificial intelligence has delivered remarkable improvements in consistent color reproduction across printing runs, such as maintaining identical color performance from the first print to the 1,000th and 10,000th print. Market participants hold optimistic prospects for China’s printing sector, as domestic national manufacturing enterprises are thriving.”

Rising Global Competitiveness of China’s Printing Industry

Combining technology introduction, digestion, absorption and independent innovation, China’s printing industry has greatly upgraded its technological capabilities and management standards, securing expanding shares in the global market.In 2024, the total import and export volume of three major printing product categories—printed matters, printing machinery and printing supplies—reached USD 24.809 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6% against 2023.

Breakdown of export performance:

• Printed matters: USD 15.043 billion, up 4% year on year

• Printing machinery: USD 3.687 billion, up 16% year on year

• Printing supplies: USD 1.309 billion, up 15% year on year

It is projected that by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the main business revenue of China’s printing machinery industry will hit RMB 75 billion, fulfilling the target of an average annual growth rate of 5% set forth in the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Printing Machinery Industry.