The first twenty years of 21st century are strategically the most important period of time to our country. We must firmly grasp it and make greater contribution. New ideas and new measures must be taken to speed up the development and the distance between China and developed countries must be narrowed. And the needs of building a well-off China must be met. In this year's Director General's Meeting, Mr. SHI Zong-Yuan, Minister of the Press and Publication Administration of China, said: 'We must speed up developing our printing and reprographic industries and build our country into an important printing base in the world'. The guidelines are as follows.

In pushing the structural optimization of the industry and exploring new ways of industrialization, development must placed in the first priority, structural adjustment must be taken as the main axis, reform and technological innovation must be used as the driving force; In restructuring the profile of large-, mid- and small-enterprises toward a more reasonable one and finding thorough solution to the problem of unnecessarily repeated investment in the mid- and low-end markets, the principle of concerted coordination between social interest and economic interest must be observed; In relocating printing resources, the role of market mechanism must be allowed to make a full play, the way of macro adjustment and control must be improved and the relationship among reform, development and stability must be properly handled; In line with the requirements of total number control, structural optimization and enforcement of supervision and management, we must stick to the principles of market rectification and regularization, and supporting the good one and restraining the bad one, to achieve a all-sided, coordinated and sustainable development for the whole industry.

After several years' efforts, we expect to achieve 'optimized structure, rationalized geographic distribution, improved quality and regularized business environment' and to form a new industrial circumstance, in which ordered competition, powerful adjustment and control, scientific planning and increased profit are guaranteed. Firstly, the number of printing enterprises must be brought under macro-control and special emphasis will be made on developing productive printing enterprises. The problem of inadequate productivity in high-end market must be solved through introducing advanced technology and capital, technological innovation and system reform. Special importance will be attached to developing advanced productive forces (at an annual growth rate of 3%), to developing package printing enterprises, especially those oriented for new products (at an annual growth rate of 10%), and to developing other types of printing (at an annual growth rate of 3%). At the end, all printing enterprises will meet the standards set up by the 'Temporary Regulations on Basic Criteria and Conditions of Printing Business Ownership' and the annual growth rate of printing production will match that of the national GDP. Secondly, we will further adjust the structure of printing industry and product, and continuously upgrade the printing enterprises. And thirdly, we will further adjust the geographic distribution of printing enterprises. Publishing printing enterprises must be concentrated in area where the publishing industry is centered, while packaging and other types of printing enterprises must be concentrated in area where the economy is centered. We will try hard to accelerate the development of printing industry in the west and north parts of China, and to cultivate new opportunities for economic growth in the central area; in the east area of China, great efforts are being made in upgrading the industrial structure, developing the value-added printing industry and promoting the export-oriented economy. As a result, several comprehensive printing bases with the combined functions of R&D, production and trade will be formed all over the country. By 2010, the printing industry will be reshaped in a new pattern, in which enterprises of different scope, different market positioning and features co-exist and are complementary with each other. In order to achieve this goal, following measures have to be taken.

The first is to further the reform of printing enterprises. This includes implementing shareholding system, developing economy of mixed ownership, and encouraging private, foreign invested and state-owned enterprises to bring each of their advantages into a full play in the competitive market and to promote mutual development.

The second is to break market monopolization by the use of market mechanism and to establish an unified, open and fairly competitive market over the whole country. We must explore overseas market through competition and gradually develop a new pattern of coordinated development, in which the large-scale enterprises play the leading role, while the large, medium and small-scale enterprises coexist in a harmonic mode.

The third is to drive the modernize of printing industry by using IT technology. In this run, we must keep on the track of digitization and network technology, restructure the traditional printing industry through the application of modern information technology, actively adopt digital workflow and management technologies, bring into a completely managed information system all the elements of enterprise, such as staff, money, matter, supply, production, sales and etc., and adopt multi-media publishing technology to promote the transformation of printing industry from labor-intensive to technology-intensive.

The fourth is to strengthen macro adjustment and control. At the same time, research must made on the possibility of opening the publication printing business to foreign investment in ways of either joint venture or independent investment. In the process of implementing law and regulation, government departments must play the role of market guiding. It will be encouraged to build large-scale joint ventures capable of delivering super quality prints. In line with WTO's requirements and the implementation of the Administration Permission Law of China this July, administrative examination and approval will be gradually reduced in printing. Large-scale package printing enterprises will be allowed to enter the publication printing market. It will be encouraged to set up high tech packaging printing enterprises, especially those oriented for new products, while the development of other kinds of printing enterprises will remain at a proper speed and scale. The structural profile of printing enterprise will be adjusted, and large- and mid-scale high tech printing enterprises will be developed, while those of small size, less productivity and out of date technology will be reconstructed or gradually washed out of the market. Geographic distribution of printing enterprise will also be adjusted through out the country, and guidance will be provided to help investors with their investments on building printing enterprises of different scale, market positioning and characteristics.

Conclusion

Looking back and forth, we are confident that the printing market in China will be more open and the policy will be more relaxed and encouraging. This will greatly broaden opportunities for cooperation and development not only for the Asian but also for the global printing industry. Thanks for your attention.