China’s Printing and Equipment Materials Import and Export Data from January to December 2023
Overview
1. National Bureau of Statistics Release
In 2023, China’s national economy showed signs of recovery and high-quality development was solidly promoted. Facing a complex and severe international environment and the arduous task of domestic reform, development, and stability, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all regions and departments earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Central Committee and the State Council. Adhering to the overall work guideline of seeking progress while maintaining stability, they fully, accurately, and comprehensively implemented the new development concept, accelerated the establishment of a new development pattern, deepened reforms and opening up comprehensively, intensified macroeconomic regulation, and focused on expanding domestic demand, optimizing structures, boosting confidence, and preventing and resolving risks. The economy rebounded, supply and demand steadily improved, transformation and upgrading were actively promoted, employment and prices were generally stable, and the well-being of the people was effectively safeguarded. High-quality development was solidly advanced, achieving the main anticipated goals.
Economically, China’s GDP exceeded 126 trillion yuan in 2023, with the growth rate accelerating by 2.2 percentage points compared to 2022. The quarterly performance showed a trend of low growth at the beginning, higher in the middle, and stable towards the end, further consolidating the positive trend. In terms of constant prices, the economic increment in 2023 exceeded 6 trillion yuan, equivalent to the annual economic output of a medium-sized country. The per capita GDP steadily increased to 89,000 yuan in 2023, a 5.4% increase from the previous year. In terms of prices, there was a moderate overall rise throughout the year, with the CPI increasing by 0.2% and the core CPI by 0.7%.
2. General Status of Customs Statistics Data
From January to December 2023, general trade exports amounted to 2.2 trillion USD, a decrease of 2.9% year-on-year, and imports totaled 1.7 trillion USD, down by 4%. In terms of the balance of payments, goods exports grew by 0.6% for the year, and foreign exchange reserves exceeded 3.2 trillion USD by the end of the year.
China’s Printing and Equipment Materials Import and Export Data
1. Printing Equipment
The import and export data of printing equipment from January to December 2023 are shown in Table 1.
| Table 1 Import and export of printing equipment from January to December 2023 | |||||
| rationale | Toxic web offset printing machine | Offset printing pillow Single color not included Offset printing press) | Guancheng printing press | Four-plate printing machine | |
| Available | November 2022 Full calculation for February Value/10,000 light yuan | 2714 | 11805 | 10004 | 6568 |
| January 2023— Accumulated money in December Painting/10,000 US dollars | 1957 | 16302 | 11575 | 6172 | |
| use this | -2% | 38% | 16% | -6% | |
| January 2022— December prime count World/Taiwan Committee | 139 | 544 | 2236 | 1105 | |
| January 2023— Total number in December Measure what you need | 121 | 1149 | 1422 | 1278 | |
| Into the middle | January 2022— The cumulative total in December Shun/10,000 yuan | 1490 | 51278 | 3062 | 2411 |
| 2023ping1— December zodiac sign is gold Ten thousand U.S. dollars | 3182 | 62250 | 1780 | 1091 | |
| Use ratio | 114% | 2.5% | -42% | 55% | |
| January 2022— December cumulative volume Heavy/Specialized | 52 | 961 | 42 | 51 | |
| 2023.1— The most collected in December quantity/world | 80 | B77 | 38 | 31 | |
(1) Offset Printing Machines
i) Web-fed Offset Printing Machines
From January to December 2023, China exported 121 web-fed offset printing machines, totaling 19.57 million USD, a 25% decrease compared to the previous year. Exports included 8 units to Spain (2.7 million USD), 27 units to Vietnam (2.42 million USD), 7 units to Italy (2.31 million USD), 11 units to Turkey (1.94 million USD), 5 units to Russia (1.89 million USD), and 10 units to Indonesia (1.75 million USD).
In the same period of 2022, 139 web-fed offset printing machines were exported, totaling 27.14 million USD. Among these, 27 units were exported to Italy (8.39 million USD), 25 units to Turkey (4.96 million USD), and 10 units to Spain (3.36 million USD).
From January to December 2023, 80 web-fed offset printing machines were imported, including commercial form rotary printing machines, totaling 31.82 million USD, a 114% increase compared to the previous year. Imports included 58 units from Japan (15.4 million USD) and 11 units from Germany (13.87 million USD), with a single unit imported to Tianjin in July 2023 from Germany costing 10.81 million USD. Imports from Japan and Germany combined accounted for 92% of the total import value.
ii) Sheet-fed Offset Printing Machines (Excluding Single-color Machines)
From January to December 2023, 1,149 sheet-fed offset printing machines were exported, totaling 160 million USD, a 38% increase year-on-year. This included 556 units to India (20.09 million USD), 87 units to Vietnam (18.12 million USD), 12 units to Japan (14.54 million USD), and 58 units to the USA (11.91 million USD).
In the same period of 2022, 544 sheet-fed offset printing machines were exported, totaling 120 million USD. Among these, 36 units were exported to the USA (18.15 million USD), ranking first in terms of value.
From January to December 2023, 877 units were imported, totaling 620 million USD. This included imports from Germany worth 460 million USD, approximately three-quarters of the total import value, and 150 million USD from Japan.
In the same period of 2022, a total of 961 sheet-fed offset printing machines were imported, totaling 600 million USD, with 677 units from Germany (430 million USD) and 282 units from Japan (170 million USD).
(2) Flexographic Printing Machines
From January to December 2023, 38 flexographic printing machines were imported, totaling 17.8 million USD, a 42% decrease year-on-year. This included 5 units from Germany (12.39 million USD), accounting for 70% of the total import value, 7 units from Italy (3.67 million USD), 1 unit from Japan (1.03 million USD), and 1 unit from Switzerland (0.49 million USD).
In the same period, 142 flexographic printing machines were exported, totaling 116 million USD, a 16% increase compared to the previous year. The highest export value was to Russia, with 118 units totaling 26.32 million USD, followed by Vietnam with 114 units (8.76 million USD), Saudi Arabia with 131 units (7.33 million USD), and Italy with 10 units (5.55 million USD).
In the same period of 2022, 2,236 flexographic printing machines were exported, totaling 100 million USD. Among these, the highest export value was to Vietnam, with 524 units (16.11 million USD), followed by India with 195 units (7.58 million USD), and Russia with 70 units (7.34 million USD).
(3) Gravure Printing Machines
From January to December 2023, 31 gravure printing machines were imported, totaling 10.91 million USD, a 55% decrease year-on-year. The highest import values were from Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland. This included 4 units from Japan (3.15 million USD), 5 units from South Korea (2.98 million USD), and 3 units from Switzerland (2.28 million USD).
In the same period, 1,278 gravure printing machines were exported, totaling 61.72 million USD, a 6% decrease compared to the previous year. This included 303 units to Vietnam (12.97 million USD), 76 units to India (8.32 million USD), 52 units to Thailand (6.32 million USD), 45 units to Indonesia (4.45 million USD), and 15 units to Japan (3.06 million USD).
2. Printing Materials
The import and export data of printing materials from January to December 2023 are shown in Table 2.
| Table 2 Import and export status of Printing Village from January to December 2023 | |||||||
| item sample | PS into CTP family | Flexographic printing plate Lin color printing live fruit Other printing oil base Custom spray base water | |||||
| exit | 1-17, 2022 Medical fee calculation quality | 14003 | 64312 | 2433 | 1561 | 14698 24185 | |
| 2023-1-12 black meter /Ten thousand U.S. dollars | 10450 | 58126 | 2390 | 1747 | 14791 26401 | ||
| Just now | -25% | -9.6% | -1.8 | 12% | 0.6% 9% | ||
| No. 1-12, 2022 Use cumulative quantity | 45.9 million m³ | 185.2 million m | 573,000 m | 3200t | 25932t 30662t | ||
| 2023 thousand 1-12 Cumulative monthly quantity | 39.24 million m² | 186.04 million F | 65.6 million H | 3731t | 31549t 37279t | ||
| Address mouth | 1-12, 2022 black gold box /10,000 yuan | 57.6 | 472 | 3330 | 5546 | 20442 13762 | |
| 1-12, 2023 Monthly ticket calculation /but yuan | 44.6 | 486 | 3178 | 5157 | 21190 12927 | ||
| Year-on-year | 23% | 3% | 4.6% | -7% | 3.7% -6% | ||
| 2022 January to December The amount of creation | 16,000m | 112,000 m² | 658,000 m | 1706t | 7152t | 6639t | |
| 2023 thousand 1-12 Use tiredness to increase the number of channels | 78,000 m | 188,000n | 29 thousand m | 1633t | 6377t | 5400t | |
(1) Printing Plates
i) PS Plates
From January to December 2023, PS plates were exported totaling 34.2 million square meters, valued at 100 million USD, a 25% decrease year-on-year. The largest quantity was exported to South Korea, 9.6 million square meters, also the highest in value, at 25.79 million USD. The next highest values were to Bangladesh, India, and Turkey.
In the same period of 2022, 45.9 million square meters were exported, valued at 140 million USD.
Compared to exports, the quantity and value of PS plate imports were significantly lower.
ii) CTP Plates
From January to December 2023, CTP plates were exported totaling 186 million square meters, valued at 580 million USD. The highest value was to the Netherlands, 84.11 million USD for 20 million square meters, followed by South Korea, 20.32 million square meters (59.65 million USD), India, 12.79 million square meters (38.68 million USD), and Turkey, 9.57 million square meters (28.38 million USD).
Compared to CTP plate exports, the quantity and value of imports were much lower.
iii) Flexographic Printing Plates
From January to December 2023, 629,000 square meters of flexographic printing plates were imported, valued at 31.78 million USD. The main imports of flexographic plates came from developed countries. The largest quantities were from Germany and Japan, combined totaling 456,000 square meters, accounting for 73% of the total import quantity.
In the same period, 656,000 square meters of flexographic printing plates were exported, valued at 23.9 million USD. The largest export destination by quantity and value was Russia, 160,000 square meters (5.49 million USD), followed by Vietnam, India, Belgium, and Indonesia.
(2) Inks
i) Black Printing Inks
From January to December 2023, black inks were imported totaling 1,633 tons, valued at 51.57 million USD. The largest import quantity was from Japan, 621 tons (21.41 million USD), accounting for approximately 38% of the total import volume; followed by the UK, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, France, and the USA.
From January to December 2023, black inks were exported totaling 3,731 tons, valued at 17.47 million USD. The largest export was to Russia, 412 tons (2.79 million USD); followed by Indonesia, 393 tons (1.78 million USD).
ii) Other Printing Inks
From January to December 2023, other printing inks were imported totaling 6,377 tons, valued at 210 million USD. The largest import quantity was from Japan, 1,610 tons, accounting for a quarter of the total import volume, with a value of 72.9 million USD, one-third of the total import value. Switzerland followed with 119 tons (31.11 million USD), ranking second in value, and South Korea with 943 tons (23.14 million USD), ranking third.
The import volume decreased by 775 tons compared to the previous year, but the value increased by 7.48 million USD.
From January to December 2023, other printing inks were exported totaling 32,000 tons, valued at 150 million USD. The largest export value was to Russia, 22.46 million USD for 2,246 tons; followed by Vietnam, 16.27 million USD for 4,131 tons; and Indonesia, 11.85 million USD for 2,738 tons.
iii) Water-based Inkjet Inks
From January to December 2023, water-based inkjet inks were exported totaling 37,000 tons, valued at 260 million USD, a 9% increase in value year-on-year. The largest market by export value was India, with 6,222 tons (30.92 million USD); followed by Pakistan, 4,393 tons (24.26 million USD); Indonesia, 2,247 tons (17.35 million USD); the USA, 1,146 tons (14.59 million USD); and Thailand, 1,650 tons (14.36 million USD).
From January to December 2023, water-based inkjet inks were imported totaling 5,400 tons, valued at 130 million USD. The largest import was from Malaysia, 1,815 tons (63.36 million USD), accounting for half of the total import value; followed by Japan, 1,398 tons (29.71 million USD).
3. Printed Products
The import and export data of printed products from January to December 2023 are shown in Table 3.
| Table 3 Import and export status of printed matter from January to December 2023 | ||||
| Item chart | Other books are sticky, Xiao Quezi and other types of printed matter | meta business value business Advertising, monthly product catalog, etc. printed matter | Other printed matter on paper | |
| Bug beans | 1-12, 2022 Use funds to calculate new funds /10,000 yuan | 117583 | 32123 | 23381 |
| 1-12, 2023 Full basis /10,000 yuan | 01866 | 33319 | 28605 | |
| Internet comparison | 13% | 3.7% | 22% | |
| 2022 -Tired from December Accounting volume | 378,000 tons | 36,000 tons | 47,000 tons | |
| 2023 -December Count quantity/ | 351,000 tons | 40,000 tons | 49,000 tons | |
| bride | 1-13, 2022 Monthly amount /Ten thousand U.S. dollars | 32706 | 2975 | 18643 |
| 1-12, 2023 Moon Fruit Calculation Chrysostom T | 29801 | 2585 | 17788 | |
| Chuangbi | – | -1% | -4.6M | |
| 1-12, 2022 Use cumulative quantity L | 15522t | 2636t | 2431t | |
| 1-12, 2023 Number of lessons L | 14697t | 2066t | 2890t | |
(1) Other Books, Brochures, and Similar Printed Matter
From January to December 2023, other books, brochures, and similar printed matter were exported totaling 351,000 tons, valued at 1.02 billion USD, a 13% decrease in value year-on-year. The highest export value was to the USA, 460 million USD for 15.7 tons, accounting for 45% of the total export quantity and value.
From January to December 2023, other books, brochures, and similar printed matter were imported totaling 14,700 tons, valued at 300 million USD, a 9% decrease in value year-on-year. The highest import value was from the UK, 55.82 million USD for 2,118 tons.
(2) Non-commercial Value Commercial Advertisements and Product Catalogs
From January to December 2023, exports of commercial advertisements and product catalogs with no commercial value totaled 40,000 tons, valued at 330 million USD, a 3.7% increase compared to the previous year. The highest export value was to the USA, at 50.71 million USD for 6,886 tons; followed by Vietnam, at 38.66 million USD for 4,403 tons.
In the same period, imports of these items totaled 2,066 tons, valued at 25.85 million USD, a 13% decrease year-on-year.
(3) Other Paper Printed Products
From January to December 2023, exports of other paper printed products totaled 49,000 tons, valued at 290 million USD, a 22% increase year-on-year. The highest export value was to Japan, at 48.46 million USD, but with a relatively small weight of only 760 tons; followed by the USA, at 47.16 million USD for 9,648 tons; and thirdly Vietnam, at 36.35 million USD for 13,000 tons.
In the same period, imports of these items totaled 2,890 tons, valued at 180 million USD, a 4.6% decrease compared to the previous year. The highest import value was from the USA, at 35.9 million USD for 451 tons; followed by Singapore, at 28.38 million USD for 93 tons; and Germany, at 18.93 million USD for 32 tons.
Conclusion
1. Printing Equipment Import and Export from January to December 2023
(1) Imports of web-fed offset printing machines totaled 31.8 million USD, a significant increase of 114% year-on-year; meanwhile, exports of these machines decreased by 28%.
Exports of sheet-fed offset printing machines (excluding single-color machines) totaled 160 million USD, a 38% increase year-on-year. However, imports of these machines remained substantial, at 620 million USD, with 460 million USD from Germany, accounting for about three-quarters of the total import value, and 150 million USD from Japan.
(2) The import value of gravure printing machines decreased by 55%, a significant reduction.
2. Printing Materials Import and Export from January to December 2023
(1) The export value of PS plates decreased by 25% year-on-year.
(2) The main imports of flexographic plates came from developed countries. The largest quantities were from Germany and Japan, combined totaling 456,000 square meters, accounting for 73% of the total import quantity.
(3) The average export price for black inks was 4,700 USD/ton, while the average import price was 32,000 USD/ton. For other printing inks, the average export price was 4,700 USD/ton, and the average import price was 33,000 USD/ton. The import price was approximately seven times the export price.
3. Printed Products Import and Export from January to December 2023
From the import and export statistics of printed products, the USA was one of the main export markets.
