Printing press development prospects

1. Current Development Status
According to statistics from the European Federation of Printing and Paper Processing Machinery Manufacturers Associations (EUMAPRINT), due to the impact of the world economic downturn, the sales of printing machinery and equipment in seven countries, including Germany, France, the United States, Italy, and Switzerland, fell by 13.08% in 2002 compared with 2001. From the analysis of the economic prosperity index, among the 11 countries, including Europe, the United States, China, Russia, and Japan, only China and Russia are on an upward trend, while the rest are declining. Among them, Germany's sales in 2002 were about 6.8 billion US dollars, a decrease of 12% from 2001; the sales of the United States were about 2.27 billion US dollars, a decrease of 16% from 2001; the sales of the United Kingdom in 2002 were 24% lower than in 2001, about 1.064 billion US dollars; Italy's sales fell by 8%, about 763 million US dollars.
In 2001, the top five countries in terms of annual output value of printing machinery and equipment were: Germany with US$7.73 billion, Japan with US$3.918 billion, the United States with US$2.702 billion, the United Kingdom with US$1.4 billion, and Italy with US$829 million. The top five countries in terms of printing machinery and equipment exports in 2001 were: Germany with US$6.325 billion, Japan with US$1.578 billion, the United States with US$1.246 billion, Italy with US$1.06 billion, and the United Kingdom with US$940 million. The top six countries in terms of printing machinery and equipment imports in 2001 were: the United States with US$2.2 billion, China with US$1.3 billion, Germany with US$1.228 billion, Italy with US$922 million, the United Kingdom with US$920 million, and Japan with US$798 million. In 2002, the Chinese printing machinery market was in full bloom, with sales of printing machinery and equipment increasing by 13.8%, making it a must-fight place for the world's printing and equipment manufacturers.