3D printing industry begins to boom

QINGDAO - With products ranging from stem cells, shoes and mini-statues, 3D printing has started to boom in China amid the industry's rapid development worldwide.

Qingdao Unique Products Develop Co Ltd announced that adipose-derived stem cells and corneal stromal cells exported via a biological 3D printer had survived for nine days.

Cell-printed tissues can be used for organ transplants or restoration, said Wang Hong, board chairman of the company at the 2014 World 3D Printing Technology Industry Exhibition, which opened on Thursday in east China's coastal city of Qingdao.

The four-day event has attracted 110 3D printing companies at home and from abroad and will showcase latest 3D printing equipment, technology and products.

"Except for the laces, the sports shoe was directly printed out," said Zhang Xuan, general manager of Qingdao AOD 3D Printing Co Ltd, a high-tech manufacturer of 3D printers.

The cost of materials for the shoe is only 40 yuan ($6.5), Zhang told Xinhua at the exhibition hall, where products such as printed sports shoes, shavers and bicycles are on display.

"3D printing will be a new growth area of our company. Many products can be realized through 3D printing and it will bring considerable profits," said Peng Jun, manager of the printing department of Golden Laser Co, Ltd in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

The global 3D printing industry's output was about 12 billion yuan in 2012 and 20 billion yuan last year, according to China 3D Printing Technology Industry Alliance data.

China's 3D printing output was 1 billion yuan in 2012 and more than 2 billion yuan last year. The sector's output is expected to reach 4 billion to 5 billion yuan this year.

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