China looks to 3D printing for manufacturing edge

China will turn to domestically-developed three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies to change how companies view manufacturing, and ease the pressure on energy and resources needed for the production process.

China Daily reported Tuesday that Su Bo, the country's vice minister of industry and information technology, said it should establish plans and use tax incentives to speed up the research and development (R&D) and application of 3D printing technologies.

With the technology, cutting, bending, pressing, moulding and assembling will no longer be necessary in manufacturing as the 3D printer will automatically produce a solid product based on pre-set 3D data. Considering China is the world's biggest manufacturer, 3D printing would help improve the country's productivity, Su pointed out. 

He added: "It is a revolutionary manufacturing technique. Once put to large-scale production, it will ease China's pressure on energy and resources."

Li Peigen, president of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said in the report that China was almost on par with developed markets in R&D and application of 3D printing. The university's Fast Manufacturing Center has invented a 3D printer that can produce the world's biggest product, the report noted.

Huazhong University of Science and Technology, together with Tsinghua University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Beijing Long Yuan-Automated Fabrication System,  are the country's leading research institutes in 3D printing, it added.