More Chinese Newspaper Press Deals For KBA

The signing of two contracts in Hangzhou has underscored the continued interest amongst Chinese printers in KBA newspaper technology.

The signing of two contracts in Hangzhou has underscored the continued interest amongst Chinese printers in KBA newspaper technology.

The contracts - for a three-section KBA Commander press line and a Comet SC with heatset capability - were placed by Zhejiang Daily News Group to print its flagship title and semi-commercial titles.

The order for the two press lines is the biggest that KBA has booked to date in the Chinese newspaper market.

The successful start-up of the first KBA Comet in China, at the China Youth Daily, was followed in 2002 by the first Colora (at the Chongqing Daily) and in 2004 by the first Continent (at the Yunnan Daily).

KBA has sold a total of 13 Comet press lines, three Colora installations and one Continent press to newspaper printers in the People's Republic.

The sale of a top-of-the-range Commander tower press to the Zhejiang Daily establishes KBA's presence at the high end of the biggest growth market in the Far East, beleives the company.

The Commander for Zhejian will have a maximum web width of 1,700mm (67") and will be configured with 12 split-arm reelstands, eight printing towers for blanket-to-blanket production and three KF5 double jaw folders.

The press will be engineered for a choice of alternative web widths to enable it to handle the Zhejiang Daily News Group's variety of products.

It will feed to Schur mailroom equipment.

The Comet, with a maximum web width of 1,000mm (39.5") will be configured with three reelstands, two four-high towers with automatic blanket washing, a KF3 jaw folder and a heatset package with Megtec thermal air dryer.

Both presses will be installed in a new printing plant in Hangzhou and are scheduled to come on stream at the beginning of 2008.

The Zhejiang Daily News Group, which is based in Hangzhou, is one of the province's top two media enterprises.

The group publishes three daily titles and a string of periodicals.

The most popular titles are Zhejiang Wan Bao (circulation 800,000 copies), Zhejiang Daily (300,000 copies) and Jinri Zao Bao (350,000).

They are amongst the leading newspapers in the province.

When signing the contract, Yao Min Sheng, president of Zhejiang Daily, described the investment as a milestone in the company's development.

He said: "The performance and quality of the KBA presses and KBA's international reputation as one of the foremost newspaper and security press manufacturers, are a guarantee for technology that is second to none.

Numerous installations have already made the name KBA a byword for excellence in press technology amongst Chinese printers." Walter Zehner, the general manager of KBA China and Horst-Walter Hauer (from KBA Wurzburg, Germany) both commented that the Zheijang Daily project is confirmation of KBA's success in the Asia-Pacific market and of the trust that Chinese printers place in press technology from Germany.

Hangzhou is the capital city of Zhejiang Province, which has enjoyed significant economic growth for many years now.

The media industry, which is heavily concentrated in this economic region, is no exception: its diversity and economic clout is reflected in a plethora of titles with a circulation totalling several million copies that are published in the city and throughout the province.

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