"With the release of Made in China 2025, the overall environment for 3D printing is improving fast, and prospects for the industry have never looked brighter." Luo Jun, CEO of the world's 3D printing Technology Industry Alliance, said during the third World 3D Printing Technology Conference & Expo.

Held in Chengdu, capital city in southwest China's Sichuan province, from June 4 to 5, the conference focuses on the 3rd generation of 3D printing. More than 1,200 delegates from over 10 countries and regions are taking part. Luo Jun predicts that the number of professional visitors will exceed 30,000.

"The Chinese government has just issued Made in China 2025", said Luo. "This is a document that looks forward to the future of China's manufacturing industry in 2025. The overall environment for 3D printing is improving fast, and prospects for the industry have never looked brighter."

He pointed out that the global value of 3D printing reached 30 billion yuan last year, and China accounted for 10 percent of this total. In recent years China's government has placed 3D printing, together with robotics and artificial intelligence, at the forefront of technological development in the field of intelligent manufacturing. In the first half of this year, the government issued two important documents to promote the development of 3D printing industry.

At a news conference during the Expo, Bill O'Neill, Director of Cambridge Industrial Photonics Center, pointed out that 3D printing technology has been in existence for more than 30 years. But problems in adapting it to practical applications meant that for a long time it had remained an interesting phenomenon of limited commercial use.

Luo Jun confirmed the problem: "Although 3D printing could be used on a wide range of products, it was not a commercially viable substitute for existing production methods as it was not suitable for mass production. We lacked a mature business model which could integrate 3D printing into industries like fashion, art, education, and training."

Experts believe that the 3D printing must integrate with big data, cloud computing, networking, artificial intelligence, digital control technology and other advanced technologies. Ian Gibson, Professor of Machine Design at Deakin University in Australia, also pointed out that 3D printing has great potential in niche segments of major industries such as automobile production, aerospace, and biotechnology.

Following the Second World Conference & Expo of 3D printing in Qingdao in 2014 , the China Innovation Center of 3D Printing, the 3D Printing Research Institute, and several companies involved in online 3D printing set up in Qingdao's National High-tech Zone. They will be fully open in late June this year, providing a solid cluster as a base for the development of the 3D printing industry.

The article is edited and translated from《3D打印春天即将来临？业内称去年全球产值300亿元》, source: China News, author: Pang Wuji, Xu Yangyi