The rules, effective on August 2, will help the industry use foreign investment more effectively and help the business develop faster, officials insisted.

Foreign investors will now be able to run solely owned companies in China, rather than only Sino-foreign joint ventures.

Yet restrictions remain. These solely owned companies are allowed only to print materials for packaging and decoration. They are banned from printing other materials such as books and bills.

Furthermore, companies that produce material for overseas clients must apply for approval from the press and publication departments of their provinces, the regulation said.

Printed materials should then be transported abroad and may not be sold or distributed on the Chinese mainland.

Violators can face licence revocation and fines of up to 10 times the illegally gained income.

Bernhard Schreier, chairman of German printing giant Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, said China's printing business has great potential to develop. The public's appetite for reading material is voracious, even though Chinese people presently spend about US$35 per year in the sector. That's far lower than the US$300 spent each year per capita in Germany.

China's booming economy will be an important impetus for the development of the Chinese printing enterprises, he said.

"With growth rates in high double figures for several industries, China is the fastest growing individual market of all for the printing sector,'' he said.

"Printing is positioned for continued growth for the foreseeable future, with increasing contributions from countries like China.''

He believes that with more foreign companies in the Chinese market, competition will be tougher and consumers will enjoy more choices at better prices.

China now has about 150,000 printing enterprises. The annual industrial output of the print industry totalled about 150 billion yuan (US$18.1 billion).

(China Daily 08/25/2001)