Four Areas to Advance Structural Adjustment in the Printing and Publishing Industry

The printing and reproduction industry accounts for a large share of the press and publication industry and is one of the five "key tasks for industrial development" put forward in the Guiding Opinions on Further Promoting the Development of the Press and Publication Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Guiding Opinions). The requirements the Guiding Opinions set for the development of the printing and reproduction industry make its development direction clearer and its methods more distinct. Wang Yanbin, Director of the Printing and Distribution Management Department of the General Administration of Press and Publication, has now offered an open-ended interpretation of the Guiding Opinions from four aspects regarding measures to promote structural adjustment of the printing industry.

Promoting technological progress to spur industrial upgrading

The printing industry is one that relies on scientific and technological progress to achieve development and upgrading. Therefore, to adjust the industrial structure, it must rely closely on technological progress. Wang Yanbin believes that the domestic printing industry should track new developments in printing technology and processes and strive to make breakthroughs in key technologies such as digital printing, computer-to-plate, high-speed multi-color sheetfed offset, web offset, gravure and flexo printing, as well as in the application of new printing standards. Major projects such as digital printing and printing digitalization should be launched as soon as possible, with key breakthroughs in inkjet digital printing, digital assets, computer-to-plate, digital proofing and digital workflows, driving the technological upgrading of the entire industry through major technological innovation. On the basis of introducing, absorbing, digesting and re-innovating, breakthroughs in equipment localization should be accelerated. Large foreign suppliers of printing equipment and raw and auxiliary materials should be guided to invest in and set up factories in China, reducing costs and selling prices through localized production.

In the face of the current state of digitalization, Wang Yanbin said the government encourages and supports the development of new digital printing business formats, and that the Measures for the Administration of Digital Printing will be formulated and issued.

Improving the quality system to enhance competitiveness

With regard to the printing quality supervision and management system, Wang Yanbin believes attention should be paid to the following aspects.

We should continue to formulate, revise and improve printing quality standards, gradually align with standards, and form a relatively complete printing quality standards system. We should supervise printing enterprises in organizing production strictly in accordance with quality standards, improve the methods and procedures for the supervision and testing of printed products, study and formulate inspection and testing procedures for the incoming materials, production and outgoing products of printing enterprises, improve the functions of testing institutions, and gradually raise the quality level of printing enterprises, especially small and medium-sized ones. We should continue to organize the "3·15" printing quality supervision and testing campaign well, and, using printing quality as the lever, strengthen the regulatory function over the printing industry.

Developing environmentally friendly printing and eliminating outdated production capacity

Green and environmentally friendly is one of the current priorities for the printing industry. The government also has clear requirements in this regard. According to Wang Yanbin, first, green and environmentally friendly printing standards should be formulated and issued, using standard formulation and implementation to drive the entire printing industry to raise its quality level, carry out structural adjustment and achieve intensive development. Second, attention should be paid to cultivating new environmentally friendly printing products; printing processes that meet environmental protection requirements, save energy and recycle resources well should be built, environmentally friendly raw and auxiliary materials should be used, raw materials with toxic and harmful side effects should be banned, environmental pollution should be reduced, and the health of the people, especially young people, should be protected. Third, low-end and outdated printing production capacity should be eliminated; the exit mechanism should be further improved, the criteria for phasing out technology and equipment should be clarified, elimination targets should be quantified, and elimination efforts should be intensified. We aim to eliminate a batch of production capacity with outdated technical equipment, low production efficiency and high resource and energy consumption within three years.

Building printing bases and cultivating backbone enterprises

At present, the construction of printing bases is under way, and the government is also conducting research for the issuance of the Guiding Opinions on Establishing Printing Demonstration Bases. On the basis of focusing on building the three printing industry belts of the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta and the Bohai Rim, printing parks under construction across the country are being evaluated, integrated and regulated; through the five major orientations of policy, location, resources, market and technology, the concentration of printing industry resources is being promoted, printing enterprises are being guided toward intensive operation, and their overall competitiveness is being enhanced.

In addition to building printing bases, the government also supports backbone enterprises with own-brand products and strong market competitiveness in growing and expanding.

Backbone printing enterprises with advanced printing levels, outstanding economic scale and efficiency, and the ability to compete, along with technology-innovation-oriented enterprises, specialized supporting enterprises and advantageous enterprises in related industry chains, should be guided to become printing demonstration bases, and different printing industry clusters suited to market demand and characterized by specialization, refinement, distinctiveness and novelty should be cultivated. Through the demonstration effect of backbone enterprises, the scattered resources of the printing industry chain should be integrated, the rational allocation of printing production capacity should be realized, and the overall transformation and upgrading of the printing industry should be driven forward.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362225.html