WUHAN, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- China plans to invest in locally-invented 3D printing technologies to boost its manufacturing power, according to a senior industrial official.
Su Bo, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, said the country should establish plans and use tax incentives to speed up research and development (R&D) and application of 3D printing technologies.
Unlike traditional printing techniques, 3D printing is a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital printer which can be created by laying down successive layers of materials. It is also known as additional manufacturing.
Cutting, bending, pressing, moulding and assembling will no longer be necessary in the manufacturing as a click of the printing button on a 3D printer will automatically produce a solid product based on the pre-set three dimensional data.
"It is a revolutionary manufacturing technique. Once put to large-scale production, it will ease China's pressure on energy and resources," said Su at an international forum on additional manufacturing technology, which closed in Wuhan on Sunday.
David Bourell, a professor of the University of Texas at Austin, in the United States, sees great potential in the application of additional manufacturing in China.
Even if the smallest portion of consumer goods are produced through 3D printing, the market volume will be tremendous, he said.
China is the world's biggest manufacturer. If the technology can be put to broader use, the country's productivity and energy- and resource-use efficiency will improve greatly, said Su Bo.
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