Production Value Sets New Record

China is one of the most dynamic print markets in the world. From 2001 to 2005, the Chinese printing industry grew at an average rate of 14.6%. The production value created by the printing industry in 2003 set a new high at just over 2% of China’s GNP. In 2005, the value of goods and services produced increased by 10.7% as compared to the previous year, totaling 310 billion Yuan (39.4 billion USD).

The gross product value of the Chinese print industry comes primarily from prepress, book publishing, newspaper publishing, packaging, and foreign-trade printing. The total usually excludes print equipment and paper products. Packaging printing ranks first, constituting about 35% of China’s total print gross product value; with book publishing second, adding up to one-fourth of the total; third is newspaper printing, accounting for 16%. These three sectors account for over 75% of the total.

Though foreign-trade printing experienced a 31.8% increase last year, packaging, book, and newspaper publishing were still the top three sectors in the Chinese print industry. Packaging printing has averaged an annual growth of 9.52% for the last 5 years, and its product value jumped from 75 billion Yuan RMB ($9.5 billion) in 2001 to 108 billion Yuan ($13.7 billion) in 2005. Book publishing ranks second. Its annual growth is 16.68%, and its product value rose from 37.7 billion RMB ($4.8 billion) in 2001 to 75 billion ($9.5 billion) in 2005.The product value of newspaper publishing went up to 50.5 billion in 2005 ($7.87 billion) from 32.8 billion ($4.16 billion) in 2001, averaging an increase of 11.4% over this period.

Printing Enterprises Kept Growing in Recent 3 Years

In 2003, the number of all printing enterprises in China totaled 92,389 (excluding 71,256 typing and copying companies), with 2,477 new printing enterprises. The number of persons employed in the trade reached 2,959,300, and its gross output value amounted to 185.44 billion RMB ($23.55 billion).

In 2004, there were 94,282 various printing enterprises in China, an increase of 1,893 compared to 2003, and a growth rate of 2.05%. Those newly established enterprises were, for the most part, private and foreign invested companies and the enterprise ownership mix did not change appreciably, with state-owned printing enterprises comprising 7.63% of the total.

As of November 2005, the number of printing enterprises in China reached 97,391. There were 85,326 copying and typing companies (usually considered separately from other printing enterprises) for a combined total of 182,717 enterprises. Among these printing businesses, there were 5,935 publication printing enterprises, or 6.09% of the total; 37,431 were packaging printing enterprises, comprising 38.43%; 49,439 were other printing enterprises accounting for 50.76%; and there were 4,586 typesetting, plate-making and binding companies; for 4.71% of the total. The print industry as a whole employed over 3,400,000 people.

Multi-Economic Components Grew Simultaneously

When classified by enterprise type, state-owned and collective printing enterprises comprised 21.87%, private enterprises constituted 74.71% and foreign invested enterprises accounted for 3.42%. However, this collective data does not reflect the make-up of the individual regions. Because the coastal area opened up faster, the proportion of private enterprise and foreign founded enterprises is larger in these areas.

Regarding foreign investment in the print industry, former policies have been eased; and the ability of the industry to attract foreign capital is gradually improving. From 1999 to 2001, a total of 43 enterprises with foreign investors were approved and established. In 2002, there were a total of 98 enterprises created with foreign investment, with a total investment of 500 million US dollars. In 2003, 84 more enterprises were approved with the same investment amount. There are no detailed statistics for 2004; however informed estimates are that the amount should exceed 700 million US dollars.

Though foreign funded enterprises make up a relatively low percentage of the total numbers, the scale of investment is generally large. Take Beijing for example: 6 new foreign invested enterprises were approved in 2005, comprising only 4.8% of the total of 125 approved enterprises, but their registered capital investment was 146 million Yuan ($18.54 million), making up 42.82% of the total. By looking at the top 100 print enterprises in China in 2005, with annual sales income greater than 155 million Yuan, we can clearly see that foreign investment is penetrating deeply into the robust Chinese print industry.

Regional Print Markets Further Develop

As for regional economies, the Chinese print industry has distinct regional centers. There are three major print industrial zones: the Pearl River Delta Zone with Guangdong as its hub, the Yangtze River Delta Zone with Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang at the center and the Bohai Sea Rim Area Zone centered on Beijing and Tianjin. The aggregate economic volume from these three industrial zones accounts for half the total of the entire print industry in China.

Among these three industrial zones, the Pearl River Delta Zone is highly export-oriented. Thirty-three percent of the businesses in the Zone come directly from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other countries. More than 60% of all foreign invested print enterprises are located in the Peal River Delta; and by the year of 2010, the value of exported production will make up more than one third of the total print production value in this zone. This will allow this zone to be a major global outsourcing center for the print industry. Because of foreign investment, print enterprises in the Pearl River Delta on the whole possess more advanced facilities, better management and generate higher revenues. The Yangtze River Delta Zone is characterized primarily by its complete range of printing. It tends to offer more integrated services than the other zones. This zone will be developed into the most powerful integrated print hub in China. Because of this integration, this zone is attracting more and more foreign investment, and gradually it will overtake the Pearl River Delta in this area. The development of the Bohai Sea Rim Area lags behind the other two zones. But this zone is rich in printing resources; it possesses two fifths of the total print organizations in China. If you want to invest in publication printing, the zone should be your first choice. Beijing and Shanghai also will be developed into globally competitive bases for the production of print machinery and equipment. By 2010, the production value from these two bases will reach about 5 billion Yuan ($6.35 billion) each and 10 billion ($12.7 billion) by 2020.