3D printing, China's new growth point (2)

President Li Peigen with the Huazhong University of Science and Technology said that China was almost on par with developed countries in R&D and application of the leading technology.

The university's Fast Manufacturing Center has invented a 3D printer which can produce the world's biggest product through additive manufacturing technologies.

Based on the pre-set three-dimensional data, the printer can manufacture a variety of products from complicated industrial components to cooking utensils with metal, porcelain, plastics and sand powders, according to Cai Daosheng, a researcher with the center.

Academician Lu Bingheng with the Xi'an Jiaotong University took the development of 3D printing equipment as an "indicator of the dynamic and innovation capability of an economy."

China has only 8.6 percent of the world's total 3D printers compared to 38.5 percent for the U.S, he noted.

"Additional manufacturing technique will enable manufacturers to shorten production cycle, better meet individual needs and easily cope with the production of complex or large-scale components. There is much to be done for domestic researchers," he said.

Since Chinese researchers ventured into the sphere in late 1990s, a series of home-invented additional manufacturing techniques have been applied to bio-additive manufacturing, ceramic forming and laser sintering.