It was very much in the arena of developing industry standards that similarities showed among the speakers. Yu Yongzhan, President of the Printing Technology Association of China acknowledged the severe challenge lying ahead for the Chinese printing industry to achieve the aim of his association – ‘harmonious printing’, meeting not only energy saving and other environmental goals, but also socio-economic goals. Like elsewhere, much of Chinese print is by small firms struggling to make a profit against fierce competition. Lack of knowledge about the need for green printing and of technological advances to allow this is an issue, as is emissions control – organic solvents and wastewater in particular. A not unfamiliar picture.

China has developed an extensive structure of environmental legislation and emissions standards, and the industry is working with the Chinese government to launch what he described as a ‘green revolution’. This includes consolidation within the industry, phasing out small and highly polluting enterprises and introducing large plants designed for cleaner production, with modern technologies. They are seeking to learn from other countries as well as to facilitate advances in technology to support pollution free and energy saving production methods. Internal recycling is another focus, and some of the large scale printers established with foreign funding have provided a lead here. (China is generally very strong in recycling, and until recently much of the UK’s waste for recycling was processed there.)

ISO 14001 is important to Chinese printers. The industry, as many others in China, is facing the challenge of balancing economic growth and environmental protection.

The big issue they are facing is the difficulty of breaking the link between economic growth and environmental degradation (an issue we in the West have addressed to a large extent by exporting our pollution to countries such as China and India).