When AI meets traditional printing, can factories become cultural tourism attractions? This Yangtze Printing Annual Conference reveals new directions for the industry
From everyday reading materials to creative blind boxes, printing has never been far from people's daily lives and continues to find new vitality amid changing times.
In recent years, the rise of the 'millet economy' and the craze for 'blind boxes' have brought new inspiration to traditional printing and packaging companies. For example, Zhejiang Dahong Packaging has taken the card business as a breakthrough, driving the company to transition from traditional printing to independent IP design. The 'Panda Friends Adventure' card blind boxes developed in collaboration with Qinling Wildlife Park have become its first independently designed IP derivative product.
Nowadays, the printing industry is actively seeking new paths for green, intelligent, and integrated development. According to the Shanghai Printing Industry Association, the 2nd Annual Meeting of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Printing Association Joint Conference and the Yangtze Printing Forum will be held in Shanghai on November 13–14, 2025. Representatives from the printing associations of ten provinces and cities along the Yangtze River, key printing enterprises, award-winning companies from digital printing competitions, representatives signing the Printing Culture Alliance, as well as industry experts and scholars, will attend.
As one of the highlights of the forum, the 'Shanghai School Paper Printing Art Exhibition' will meet with participating delegates and the public from November 12 to December 12 at the Shanghai Printing Typeface Exhibition Hall (No. 60, Lane 1209, Xinzha Road). Reporters felt that being here is like opening a three-dimensional poem on paper, where visitors can witness how paper transcends time and space to become a bridge connecting the past and the future, and can experience the achievements of advanced Shanghai-style printing techniques today.
For example, the work "12×12×12×12" by Shanghai Printing (Group) Co., Ltd. is a set of portable notebooks made with 12 types of printing fonts, 12 types of printing paper, 12 printing techniques, and featuring the 12 zodiac animals. The entire collection employs advanced digital printing enhancement techniques, capable of achieving UV varnishing and 2D and 3D gold/silver foiling effects. Digital printing precisely renders the intricacy and complexity of the graphics, making details clearly visible and achieving outstanding results, elevating each piece into a work of art and providing a multi-sensory experience including visual and tactile enjoyment.
In addition, immersive printing study experiences-where visitors can see the production process, touch the craft details, and take cultural symbols home-are becoming increasingly popular among citizens. At Shanghai Printing Group's Qingpu Printing Park, around the theme of 'How a Book is Made,' visitors follow the guidance of exclusive cartoon characters 'IN Zai' and 'KK,' walking along the guided path to witness firsthand the entire process of book production, from typesetting to post-print processing.
Through the three key strategies of 'intangible cultural heritage inheritance, cultural and creative development, and cultural real estate,' this industrial tourism project breaks away from superficial sightseeing, allowing the experience to be more immersive and the culture to come alive, and has become a model for innovative cultural integration in the industry.
Shen Jianyi, President of the Shanghai Printing Industry Association, introduced that during the Yangtze River Printing Forum, a joint declaration of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Printing Culture Alliance will be signed and released. There will also be events such as the 'Haipai Paper Printing Art Exhibition,' the awards ceremony for the inaugural 'Spande Cup' Yangtze River Digital Printing Competition, and organized visits for participants to Shanghai Zhonghua Printing Co., Ltd., the industrial tourism project 'How a Book is Made,' the Zhonghua Printing Museum, and Huawei's Shanghai (Qingpu) R&D Base, allowing them to deeply experience the heritage and innovation of printing culture.
Shen Jianyi stated that in 2024, Shanghai's printing industry achieved an annual industrial output value of 83.974 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.69%, with sales revenue exceeding 99.29 billion yuan, up 7.93% year-on-year. Among this, the foreign processing trade volume grew by 14.68%, demonstrating a certain level of international market competitiveness. However, the industry still faces numerous challenges such as internal competition, rising labor costs, digital transformation, and environmental awareness. The industry needs to take "greening" as the baseline for development, "digital intelligence" as the core driving force, and "integration" as the growth path, helping the sector transition from "scale expansion" to "quality and efficiency."
It is worth noting that the conference featured excellent speeches from over 10 guests. For example, Wang Lijie, former editor-in-chief of Beijing Keyin Media & Culture Co., Ltd., will deliver a keynote speech analyzing the differentiation and competitive pressures faced by the industry and discussing how enterprises can pursue new growth through digital intelligence upgrades, green transformation, and exploring the cultural and creative emotion-driven consumer market.