The printing industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt is making big moves! Through collaborative innovation, green digital intelligence, and integrated development, a new chapter of high-quality growth is being launched.
The 2nd Annual Meeting of the Joint Conference of Printing Associations in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yangtze Printing Forum was successfully held in Shanghai from November 13 to 14, 2025. Centered on the theme 'Collaborative Innovation, Empowering the Green and Intelligent Integration of the Printing Industry,' the conference gathered more than 200 distinguished guests and representatives, including industry regulators, printing associations from ten provinces and cities along the Yangtze River, some peer printing associations, outstanding printing enterprises, upstream and downstream companies, and relevant academic institutions.
The conference focused on the goals of collaborative innovation, green intelligence, and integrated development, organizing a series of important activities: hosting the Yangtze Printing Forum to exchange innovative projects and outstanding cases; presenting the Yangtze Digital Printing Awards to commend industry leaders; signing the Printing Culture Alliance Declaration to consolidate cooperative consensus; organizing visits to exemplary enterprises to promote on-site exchanges, among others. The event concluded successfully on the evening of the 14th, yielding fruitful results, enhancing the role of the joint conference as a cooperation and exchange platform, shaping new quality productivity in the industry, providing strategic guidance, and collectively discussing collaborative action plans, implementation paths, and phased achievements, injecting new momentum into the high-quality development of the printing industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The atmosphere on-site was lively, with the forum venue fully seated and the interaction sessions actively engaging participants, who were highly enthusiastic. Representatives from printing associations in ten provinces and cities-including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Guizhou, and Yunnan-as well as peer associations from Shandong, Fujian, Guangdong, Shaanxi, Qinghai, key printing enterprises, Printing Culture Alliance signatories, winners of the first Yangtze Digital Printing Competition, and industry experts and scholars gathered together. They highly praised the conference's forward-looking topics, in-depth content, and efficient organization, and expressed sincere gratitude for the warm reception and dedicated efforts of the organizers. They unanimously agreed that this was not only a feast of collective wisdom but also a successful practice of regional collaboration, inspiring and energizing the entire industry.
1. Innovation Platform Leading the Way
Forging a new pattern for the printing industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The Yangtze River Economic Belt runs through the core hinterland of our country, passing through Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the east, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan in the center, and Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan in the west, covering an area of about 2.05 million square kilometers. At present, the number of printing enterprises in the Yangtze River Economic Belt exceeds 50,000, with more than 1 million employees and a total industrial output value of more than 700 billion yuan, occupying half of the country's printing industry and playing an important role. In order to unswervingly implement the new development concept, promote the development of new quality productive forces, strengthen regional exchanges and cooperation, and realize resource sharing, the Yangtze River Economic Belt Printing Association Joint Conference, an innovative cooperation and exchange platform, came into being, with the purpose of "collaborative innovation, green development, mutual assistance and cooperation, sharing and win-win", and received a positive response from the regional printing association. The Yangtze River Economic Belt Printing Association held a joint meeting to carefully plan a series of work such as the first Yangtze River Digital Printing Competition, the Yangtze River Economic Belt Printing Culture Alliance, and the standard construction of sustainable development (ESG) of the printing industry.
As a service platform for the cooperation and co-construction of regional printing associations, the Yangtze River Economic Belt Printing Association has compiled institutional documents such as the "Convention of the Joint Conference of the Printing Association of the Yangtze River Economic Belt" on the basis of research and listening to opinions to ensure the normalization, standardization and effectiveness of the cooperation and exchange mechanism. The platform aims to strengthen communication and assistance through member units to participate in the construction of the platform, promote resource integration, work together to build and empower each other, and give full play to the comprehensive energy efficiency of the joint meeting mechanism. It focuses on strengthening regional coordination and integration, adheres to the new development concept of consultation, co-governance, co-construction and sharing, enhances the production interconnection, policy unity, rule consistency and implementation coordination of the printing industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, steadily promotes the construction of a production material community, and promotes regional coordinated development. At the same time, we will adhere to innovation to lead development, transform the scientific research advantages and talent advantages of the Yangtze River Economic Belt into development advantages, actively open up new fields and new tracks, and shape new momentum and new advantages for industrial development.
2. The printing industry in Shanghai has achieved dazzling results
Key indicators broke through all-time highs
Shanghai is located in the east of our country, at the mouth of the Yangtze River, facing the Pacific Ocean. As an important economic and financial center of the country, Shanghai is the core engine to promote the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. At the same time, Shanghai is one of the largest comprehensive industrial cities in the country, and its printing industry has also shown strong development strength. At present, there are more than 2,200 printing enterprises in Shanghai, with more than 89,000 employees, and the main products cover book printing, paper packaging printing, plastic flexible packaging printing, etc.
The keynote report of the conference mentioned that in 2024, Shanghai's printing industry will show strong resilience and high-quality development characteristics in a complex economic environment, although it has been streamlined in the number of enterprises and employees, but through the reduction of staff and efficiency and digital intelligence upgrading, a breakthrough in key economic indicators has been achieved: the total industrial output value reached 83.974 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.69%; sales revenue exceeded 99.290 billion yuan, a record high, a year-on-year increase of 7.93%. In particular, the foreign processing trade volume increased by 14.68%, highlighting the excellent competitiveness and adaptability of Shanghai's printing industry in the international market.
In terms of development quality, Shanghai's printing industry presents the core characteristics of "high labor productivity and high value-added products", and the per capita output value and per capita profit of the industry far exceed the national average, proving that it has successfully broken away from the traditional labor-intensive model and entered a new stage driven by technology and efficiency. Shanghai's leading printing enterprises have become the most eye-catching scenery among them, and in the latest list of "China's Top 100 Printing and Packaging Enterprises", 10 enterprises in Shanghai are on the list. Shanghai printing enterprises are taking R&D as the engine and playing a role in innovation leadership and value demonstration in the national industry, such as Zijiang, Siwei, Ailu and other enterprises with their outstanding performance in technological innovation and market expansion, firmly on the list, and some enterprises have steadily improved their rankings. The success of these leading enterprises is a vivid portrayal of the overall transformation and upgrading of Shanghai's printing industry.
3. Digital intelligence transformation practice
The construction of smart factories has achieved remarkable results
In the face of the diversification and personalization trend of market demand, digital and intelligent transformation has become a key path for the printing industry to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and shape core competitiveness. At present, a number of smart factory construction benchmarks have emerged in Shanghai, and 3 printing companies have been awarded the title of municipal smart factory, providing vivid practice for the whole industry. Among them, Longlid Packaging Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. has been recognized as a model enterprise of high-tech packaging and printing with more than 20 years of accumulation in the field of corrugated boxes; Shanghai Ailu Packaging Co., Ltd. uses 46 sets of in-depth customized systems to achieve full-link data-driven and unmanned warehousing; All 12 water-based flexo printing lines of Shanghai Zidan Food Packaging and Printing Co., Ltd. are connected to visual quality inspection, building a green intelligent manufacturing system of "flexo printing + ink + automatic quality inspection", and successfully selected as a national intelligent manufacturing demonstration factory in 2023; Shanghai Yangsheng Printing Co., Ltd. was selected into the list of advanced smart factories in Shanghai in 2025, and its newly built intelligent manufacturing center uses cloud computing and artificial intelligence and other technologies to achieve integrated management of R&D, production, warehousing and logistics.
During the annual meeting of the 2nd Yangtze River Economic Belt Printing Association Joint Conference and the Yangtze Printing Forum, attendees visited Shanghai Zhonghua Printing Co., Ltd. to inspect its digital and intelligent construction and environmentally friendly and energy-saving manufacturing projects. They also toured an innovative integrated intelligent warehousing solution, as well as an intelligent warehouse system linked by intelligent warehouse management software, dense storage, and smart AGV vehicles. In the industry's shift from traditional printing to a development trend characterized by 'new quality leadership and digital intelligence empowerment,' Zhonghua Printing has made comprehensive deployments, strengthened the promotion of digital transformation, adjusted its industrial structure, explored technological innovation, and advanced transformation and upgrading, further enhancing brand competitiveness.
4. Comprehensive Green Transformation
Driving a New Engine for Competitive Upgrade in the Printing Industry
Green development has shifted from being an industry advocacy to a mandatory threshold for the survival and competition of printing enterprises. At this Yangtze Printing Forum, company representatives stated that establishing a green system covering environmental management and risk prevention has become an industry consensus. To break through challenges, leading companies are using the ESG concept as a framework, elevating green practices from compliance requirements to a core competitive advantage, and creating replicable practice models. Shanghai Printing (Group) Co., Ltd., one of the first nationally certified green printing enterprises, has, after introducing ESG concepts, built a full-chain system of 'green production + responsible governance' from raw material procurement to waste disposal. Shanghai Ruishi Chuangzhan Printing Co., Ltd. focuses on the research and development of eco-friendly products, using recyclable paper materials to replace traditional materials, giving its environmentally creative products a differentiated advantage in the international market. Shanghai Yangsheng Printing Co., Ltd., by publishing its annual ESG report, systematically showcases its green manufacturing achievements, providing customers with sustainable solutions throughout the product lifecycle.
Furthermore, achieving deep green transformation requires collaboration across the entire industry chain to build a 'full-chain, multi-entity' green ecosystem. In this process, proactive participation from local associations is crucial. For example, Shanghai's printing industry authorities and associations have taken the lead by promoting regional industry green transformation through mechanism design, project implementation, and standard support. The Shanghai Printing Industry Association has provided solid platform support and standard guidance for enterprises' green transformation by establishing a Sustainable Development Committee, conducting ESG assessment surveys, piloting ESG business reports, and leading the compilation of China's first 'General ESG Enterprise Evaluation Standards.'
5. Innovation and Application of Digital Printing Technology
Opening New Paths for Industry Value Growth
Currently, digital printing technology is profoundly reshaping the printing industry ecosystem. Digital enhancement is not only key to improving production efficiency and optimizing service quality but also the core tool for overcoming development bottlenecks and achieving transformation and upgrading. At this conference, many guest representatives exchanged ideas and explored new value for digital printing in packaging, cultural and creative products, and commercial services. For example, Beijing Zhiyi Zhonghe Technology Co., Ltd.'s innovative products-the 'Book Spine Fish' aesthetic spine printing machine and the 'Big Tornado' digital rotary printing machine-demonstrate the application and innovation strength of digital printing technology, empowering book spines with more information value and design expression. Konica Minolta Office Systems (China) Co., Ltd. showcased, based on its extensive digital printing products and solutions, how digital intelligent technology can empower enterprises and promote the digital transformation of the industry.
As one of the key events of this conference, the inaugural Yangtze Digital Printing Competition Award Ceremony, also known as "Spander Night," was grandly held during the event. A total of 92 entries won awards this year, fully showcasing the significant achievements and artistic standards of companies in the field of digital printing. The work submitted by Shanghai Zhonghua Business United Printing Co., Ltd., titled "Photo Collection," won the grand prize. Professional judges highly praised it, stating: "The print has a large format, and the use of large areas of solid ink makes on-site printing extremely challenging. The ink is stable and consistent, the white text is rendered clearly without contamination, and the color performance is excellent. After processing, it exhibits an oil painting-like texture and can be considered a collectible piece of fine art."
6. Exploring New Boundaries of 'Printing'
A vivid practice of cross-industry integration
Integration is becoming an innovative path for printing companies to break through homogeneous competition and explore new blue ocean markets. As another important event of the conference, attendees visited the 2025 Haipai Paper Printing Art Exhibition during the meeting, appreciating numerous innovative products that deeply integrate printing and culture. For example, the long-standing dragon scale binding technique, interpreted through modern design, has become a highlight in bookbinding and cultural creation. Pop-up books combine intricate structural design with printing craftsmanship, enhancing the user experience in a dynamic and interactive form. This integration not only expands the boundaries of printing but also gives traditional culture new vitality.
The integration of printing and cultural IP has opened up broader commercial opportunities. During the conference, attendees also visited the industrial tourism project 'How a Book is Made,' developed by Shanghai Printing (Group) Co., Ltd., where they gained an in-depth understanding of the value of the printing industry from the perspectives of historical culture, craftsmanship, industry applications, and technological innovation. In addition, many printing companies are actively promoting industrial transformation and upgrading from an IP perspective, fully leveraging the empowering role of culture. Kayou (Shanghai) Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd. has demonstrated outstanding performance in special processes and high-precision production of card products, thanks to its strong IP development and operation capabilities, with annual sales significantly leading the market. Shanghai Siwei Cultural Media Co., Ltd. successfully launched its original IP 'Shizai,' and by cooperating with national-level media, the company transformed from a 'third-party IP developer' into a 'builder of its own IP ecosystem,' achieving a dual enhancement of commercial value and cultural dissemination.
At this conference, representatives of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Printing Culture Alliance jointly signed and issued the "Joint Declaration of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Printing Culture Alliance," marking the official launch of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Printing Culture Alliance. Actively promoted by the Shanghai Printing Association to foster regional cooperation, the alliance was led to establish the Yangtze River Economic Belt Printing Enterprise Culture Alliance and set up a joint meeting mechanism among printing associations, focusing on four main areas of work: jointly organizing the Yangtze Digital Printing Competition; promoting the ESG concept and leading the formulation of group standards such as carbon emission assessment; regularly conducting post-printing technical training activities to improve craftsmanship; and organizing annual cultural and creative showcases to encourage corporate integration and result sharing. Going forward, the Shanghai Printing Association also plans to expand the Shanghai-Hong Kong counterpart cooperation mechanism and build dialogue platforms between the Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regions. Through north-south collaboration and experience sharing, the aim is to break regional barriers and promote coordinated development of the printing industry nationwide.