Encouraging industrial change in northwest China

Founded in November 1978, Shaanxi Academy of Printing Technology (SAPT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shaanxi Science and Technology Holding Group, the only scientific and technological enterprise engaged in the research and development of printing technology in Northwest China.

SAPT occupies over 10,000sqm and has assets worth 19.5 million RMB (USD 2.68m). SAPT employs 46 staff, including 32 with college and advanced degrees, and 17 with senior professional titles. Since its establishment, SAPT has completed more than 90 scientific research projects and 41 of those projects have won provincial and ministerial science and technology progress awards.

‘This year is the 46th year of the establishment of SAPT,’ Xiaoling says. ‘We have always been deeply engaged in the printing industry, providing scientific research and printing technology services for the whole industry. In the early years, we developed and sold offset printing plates and inks. At its high point, we employed more than 200 people.’

“Enterprises need to break the circle of competing on price with their immediate competitors, and should look to actively expand into more diversified markets”

As the growth of the entire Chinese label industry slowed, SAPT restructured its business. In 2010 SAPT stopped selling plates and inks and looked to diversify into consultancy for print industry startups, acting as an enterprise incubator, leasing equipment and plant services and providing research and exhibition services.

‘Through the expansion of these new business areas, we better understand the pain points in the development of the printing and packaging industry, especially when the entire industry is moving from a period of rapid growth to the “new normal”,’ Li Xiaoling says.

The growth of enterprises no longer relies simply on investment in new equipment and increasing production volume but on innovation in technology, applications and management.

Converters are now thinking: how can we improve quality and efficiency, as well as reduce the cost and challenges of introducing new technologies?’

This thinking led SAPT to focus on research and development services for the printing industry, carrying out extensive cooperation with suppliers, converters and universities in this industry sector. They also take advantage of being a state-owned enterprise, which helps accelerate the appointment of professional and technical personnel to promote the transformation of the printing industry. Today SAPT is focused on being a print industry incubator, offering consultancy services and promotion of industry-university-research projects.

Slow transformation

The 2022 annual review of the 1,425 printing enterprises in Shaanxi Province showed there were 259 publication printers, 68 digital printing companies, 538 packaging and decoration printing enterprises and 525 undefined, along with 42 platemaking companies, with a total employment of 30,100.

‘After communicating with label converters, we found that although the industry accounts for only a small proportion of the entire packaging printing sector, its current growth and future potential are very good,’ Li Xiaoling says. ‘At present, the label converters in Shaanxi Province are concentrated in the capital city Xi ‘an, and the overall number of enterprises is about 50. The main applications include pharma labels, food labels, electronic labels, household chemical labels and supermarket, retail, wine and beverage labels. The proportion of paper labels is about 60 percent.’

The low degree of concentration common in the printing industry is also obvious in Shaanxi, and the scale of most enterprises in this region is not very large. However, competition is becoming increasingly fierce. So how do converters transform themselves in order not to be swept away?

‘On the one hand, I think that enterprises need to keep up with automation and intelligence manufacturing trends to reduce costs and improve production efficiency, to enhance their whole market competitiveness,’ says Li Xiaoling. ‘Official government policy aims at promoting the application of intelligent manufacturing and accelerating the construction of smart factories.

‘During our visits, we found that at present, many local label converters are aware of the need to automate and they have indeed invested in label printing equipment with higher levels of automation. According to, admittedly incomplete statistics, there are only 10 in-line flexo presses installed in Xi’an, of which seven presses were installed after the epidemic, including machines from Taiyo, Weigang, Hongsheng, Dowell, Label Source and JMD.

‘Enterprises need to break the circle of competing on price with their immediate competitors and should look to expand into more diversified markets. For example, expansion into higher value-added smart labels, anti-counterfeiting labels and others.’