The ninth edition held in New China International Exhibition Center in Beijing, was filled with 1,300 exhibitors and by the end of the four days saw 1,92,000 visitor footfall. The Indian contingent though was conspicuously small compared to the last edition. The figure put by those in the know was around 150. However, there were quite a few sales bookings made by Indian print companies, which were announced at the show.

According to Peter Rego, general manager for sales at Heidelberg, those who were here, wanted to see where the trend and technology are going. He said. “China Print is a large show, next only to Drupa. We have the same offering as we had at Drupa. We have gone one step ahead and introduced a new press, the Speedmaster CX 75, targeted at those mid-sized customers who are looking to diversify into packaging.”

The focus is shifting to smaller cities, like Surat, Vadodara, and Jodhpur; and not just four-colour, but a coater too. “Surat was earlier tier-IV city. Today it has 11 machines of RMGT with more in the pipeline,” said Vinay Kaushal, director at Provin Technos, which represents RMGT in India. “Today, a basic four-colour is used only for the publication industry. If you have to survive, value addition is a must.”

Both Rego and Kaushal said that FY 2017 has begun well, each selling 80 printing units in the last two months.