Checking on the Printing Business in

Hong Kong &

China

I
Export printers f only geopolitical events and market forces had the push-button simplicity

© MONTICELLLO / ISTOCK
of a CtP imagesetter or a printing press for a quick reset, do-over, or finish.
look beyond the Print manufacturers, particularly export suppliers from Hong Kong and
China, would heave a collective sigh of relief and resume their everyday
escalating trade battles with rising costs, faster time to market, and increased government
regulation. As it is, the escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China
dispute between and the tightening paper market are monopolizing conversations, sparking
speculations, and making the print business tougher than ever.
China and the U.S.
Mulling Over Tariff Threats
and changes in Washington’s latest threat to impose penalties on as much as $450 billion worth
paper pricing to of Chinese goods, or nearly 90% of the total value of goods imported into the U.S.
from China in 2017, is raising the specter of a full-blown trade war between the
diversify, grow, world’s two biggest economies. While Washington and Beijing are sparring over
trade, Hong Kong and China print manufacturers are assessing the situation and
and prosper figuring out how to cushion potential fallout.
As Henry Woo, general manager of the OEM business department at Leo Paper,
says, “The scope and intensity of further tariffs remain unknown and unpredictable,
and we are uncertain as to the impact on our business planning. Of course, we
hope for a quick compromise in the dispute or, at least, less tense trade friction.
But the persistent concerns are eventually going to hit the stock market and global
economy whether we like it or not.”
By Teri Tan
Alice Fan, overseas sales manager at Magnum Offset, is among the many who
are vigilantly monitoring the list of items covered by the ongoing trade dispute.
“The proposed list of 6,031 products with 10% tariff, as announced on July 10,
included not just paper and paper products but also chemicals and inks,” she
says. “This is bound to affect our industry. However, since the Trump policy is
constantly changing, a significant negative impact in the short term is unlikely.
At this stage, we can only strive to maintain the stability of our operations and
business.”

W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M 43
 Printing in Hong Kong & China
The tit-for-tat countermeasures are certainly moving way too
fast for anyone to take a clear measure of the potential effects.
“It is difficult to know if the second round of tariffs on $200
billion worth of goods will actually be implemented, but it
could start as early as September, with tariffs of 10% to 25%,”
says Howard Musk, president and CEO of Imago.
Whether printed products will be affected, and to what
extent, is unclear, says John Currie, global business director of
CTPS. “What is certain is that most print manufacturers are
proactively engaged in their own countermeasures,” he adds.
“However, adjusting one’s client portfolio to be less dependent
on U.S. business is not going to happen overnight.”
But though printed books are not on the list (as of today),
Musk says that “various types of paper are, and this means less
imported paper and/or higher prices, which then exerts pricing
pressures and may widen the cost gap between China and the
U.S. for printed books.” He notes, “Also included in the second
round are stationery items such as journals and notepads. If this
escalates further, it may encompass a larger range of products,
and printed books may get caught in this dispute.”
Matthew Yum, executive chairman of Hung Hing, reiterates
that a trade war is never a good thing. “Businesses will naturally
adopt a more conservative outlook, which will then lead to an
economic slowdown,” he says. “We will see cutbacks in foreign
direct investments and product launches and lower buying
volumes as importers remain uncertain about the potential cost
impact on their offshore sourcing from China.”
Furthermore, Yum says, the print and packaging markets
have always been closely tied to the GDP growth rate, which is
directly linked to consumption. “Slowdown in consumption
means less purchasing of products—books, toys, appliances, and
computers, for instance—that require some sort of ink on paper.
Unpredictable currency fluctuations in the yuan, the dollar, and
the euro are also affecting P&Ls across the economy.”
The Chinese yuan fell to a 13-month low against the dollar
this week, with an 8% drop since April. This has actually made
Chinese exports cheaper in foreign markets and buoys exports.
With the truly global 21st-century supply chain, there are many
Online Coverage of the Asian Printing Industry
The following articles are available online in conjunction with this print report:
● Thermochromic Ink Application in Penguin’s Frozen Book
● Black Light Printing in Find Monsters
Related Reads from PW:
● Coalition Opposes Imposition of Paper Tariffs
● Printers Consolidate, Innovate to Stay on Top
● Publishers Keep an Eye on Paper Costs
● Too Many Printers, Too Little Paper
Visit publishersweekly.com/asianprinting2018 to read the full coverage and publishersweekly.com/printingmarketplace to
find out more about the companies featured in this report.
44 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y ■ A U G U S T 2 7 , 2 0 1 8
other markets aside from the U.S. at play—a blessing in disguise
to many.
But Francis Ho, deputy general manager of C&C Offset,
remains optimistic that books will be the last category to be
affected because of their value to education and knowledge.
“However, as the list of products subjected to tariff grows, the
hit on packaging printers gets bigger,” he says. “For some, one
possible way of utilizing the excess capacity on their production
floor is to turn to the book market. So, I expect fiercer competi-
tion in the coming months.”
Ken Kong, managing director of Jade Productions, shares
Ho’s optimistic outlook. “I do believe that books and printed
products are way down on the tariff list,” Kong says. “In any
case, the print and pulp-and-paper industries have already
felt the negative trade impact. China has stopped importing
waste paper from the U.S., which is one of its major sources.
What we have seen since then are ever-increasing prices of
packaging paper, which affects the packaging printing
industry, whose clients are seeking alternative packaging
methods. For instance, packs of beer and canned drinks in China
and Hong Kong are now often shrink-wrapped instead of
packed in corrugated boxes.”
For Currie of CTPS, while he and his team work with U.S.
publishers closely, the focus is on supporting their clients’
regional print-on-demand and short-run programs for the Asia
Pacific and China markets. “In this regard, we operate on a dif-
ferent business model,” he says. “And with our Phygital Book
authentication and track-and-trace capabilities embedded in the
books that we print, our role for clients is not just as a print
manufacturer but also as a protector of their content and
copyright.”
At Leo Paper, Woo and his team have been busy diversifying
beyond the company’s core export-oriented OEM business by
further developing its packaging business. “We have also been
proactively expanding our shares in the China market over the
past few years,” he says. “From the corporate risk management
perspective, this will help us minimize any potential impact
from the escalating trade dispute.”
 Printing in Hong Kong & China
Pinching Paper Prices
Dramatic paper price hikes in 2017 and during the first half of
this year have hit the industry after the Chinese government
intensified controls on pollution and the use of polluting
materials in manufacturing. Chinese citizens have been quick
to spread news on social media about pollution caused by
neighborhood factories, thus pressuring local governments to
act quickly or risk mass demonstrations, says Yum of Hung
Hing. “Such moves, in line with the government’s call for social
stability and harmony, have resulted in tighter legislation on
emissions and proper waste disposal and the drive to install
cleaner energy for factories.”
The shuttering of many paper factories is one direct result,
causing rising paper costs. “Factories neighboring residential
areas are also frequently audited by various environmental
agencies on their VOC emissions, handling of chemical mate-
rials, and new machine installations,” Yum notes. “In the longer
term, these policies on sustainable and eco-friendly practices
will benefit the Chinese economy. But the adverse short-term
impact will be either rising operating costs at local SME facto-
ries or more factory closures.”
The Chinese government’s decision to reduce imports of waste
paper for recycling in paper, board, and carton manufacturing
has also caused price hikes, Musk says. “In previous years,
Chinese paper was significantly cheaper than paper from the
rest of the world, but it has now come more into line with the
international paper market. But Europe and North America are
not immune to paper price hikes. This is partly due to increased
demand for virgin pulp in China, but more importantly, it is a
rebalancing of supply and demand due to some mill closures.”
Yum says that some of his clients were able to accept the price
adjustments, “but more often than not, these adjustments were
not sufficient to cover the absolute increases in paper prices.”
He adds, “Given the higher costs of raw materials and increased
operating costs in China, print manufacturers are struggling to
support their businesses. For Hung Hing, we have increasingly
become more selective with the products and customers that we
deal with. Our steady partnerships, based on mutual benefit,
have enabled us to sail through tough periods while sharing the
bounty during good times—and we are continuing with this
philosophy.”
For Ho of C&C Offset, one solution is to use imported paper.
“The cost of imported paper is slightly lower only because
there is no duty or VAT if the finished products, such as books,
are meant for the export market,” he says. “But imported paper
requires longer lead time and faces limitations on stock. When
you factor in inventory and warehousing costs, there is little
advantage to using imported paper. In the past year, however,
the supply of imported paper had been more stable than that
of Chinese paper, but with the weakening yuan in recent
months, any gain from using imported paper is diminishing.”
Seeking alternative paper is a standard practice, says Currie
of CTPS. “For coated and semicoated paper, since we use pre-
46 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y ■ A U G U S T 2 7 , 2 0 1 8
dominantly lightweight 64 gsm that is mostly from European
mills operating in China, our alternative source tends to be
Japan,” he notes. “But for the very lightweight paper, from 30
gsm to 50 gsm, China mills still provide the best value for
money.”
Stocking up and warehousing popular grades to minimize the
impact of rising prices may sound logical, but it is impractical,
says Fan of Magnum Offset. “For those manufacturing in Hong
Kong, the rental costs of factory and warehouse space are simply
too high to make the warehousing option viable,” he notes.
“Furthermore, it is not just the paper cost that we need to con-
sider. Transportation and postage costs have also risen in recent
months. For our regular onshore clients, especially those in the
periodical segment, we recommend slightly thinner paper to
maintain their budget, which includes mailing costs, while
keeping the overall product appearance intact.”
The price of woodfree paper is now higher than that of coated
art paper, says Kong of Jade Productions. “But woodfree paper
is bulkier than matte art at the same weight; 100 gsm woodfree
has about the same thickness as 128 gsm matte art,” he notes.
“In earlier days, publishers may have used woodfree instead of
matte art to cut costs, but now that is not the main consider-
ation. What the clients want to achieve with their projects
determines the type of paper used. For instance, a publisher may
want a thick book without the weight, which means that regular
coated art paper is not advisable. Instead, uncoated woodfree is
an option if the client is flexible in terms of color reproduction.
So, unless the client comes right out and says that price pressure
is the major issue, we will recommend paper that is best suited
to the project in order to achieve the client’s goal.”
As of this week, paper prices have risen about 50% to 60%
since the last quarter of 2016, says Woo of Leo Paper. “The price
increase in waste paper—chipboard and gray backs, for
instance—is even greater, especially after China’s regulation on
waste paper imports came into effect last December,” he notes.
“Add this to other factors jacking up manufacturing costs in
China factories such as the fluctuating yuan and labor shortage,
and we see the challenges mounting up.”
For Leo Paper, staying competitive and sustainable means
implementing proactive initiatives that range from lean manu-
facturing to reengineering processes to minimize waste and
enhance overall supply chain efficiencies. “It is impossible to
absorb all cost increases on our own,” Woo says. “So, as a total
solutions provider, we do our utmost to add value to clients’
products, such as creating unique ideas using our Magic Paper
World and sound book solutions. When clients share their
annual order forecasts with us as early as possible, we can manage
our paper inventory plan in advance to mitigate potential cost
increases.”
Overall, Currie sees a more stable upcoming quarter and a
sunnier shorter-term outlook compared to the same period last
year. “Print manufacturers and publishers are becoming much
more prudent when it comes to lighter-paper inventories,” he
 Printing in Hong Kong & China
says. “In fact, there is an obvious trend of publishers backing
away from supplying paper to printers in recent months, thus
putting more financial pressures on printers.”
In other words, it is business as usual for the print suppliers
featured in this report. The challenges—price pressures and
paper-thin profit margins—have always been there, as has the
continuing search for more environmentally friendly practices,
higher productivity, and faster time to market. Providing more
value-added services, paper engineering ideas, unique postpress
C&C Offset
A visit by a group of Canadian companies during the China
Green Companies Summit 2018 in March is a testament to
C&C’s green footprint. “These business leaders were impressed
by our investment in greening our facilities,” says deputy
general manager Francis Ho. “For instance, on our web
printing floors, multiple heat exchange systems use the heat
discharged by the presses to power air-conditioning units
and water heaters.” Ho adds that these systems have enabled
the company to save up to one million kWh of electricity
annually.
Then there is the company’s wastewater treatment process,
which involves both the central dampening (or fountain solu-
tion) supply and the plate output discharge systems. “We filter
and recycle the water used for printing so that we can reuse most
of it,” Ho says. “Previously, this wastewater discharge, which is
mixed with chemicals used in plate output and printing, was
sent to a licensed collector for treatment. But the tightening of
environmental regulations by the Chinese government has
decreased the treatment volume allowed for licensed collectors,
making that solution insufficient for our needs. So, two years
ago, we began installing our own wastewater treatment system.”
The idea, Ho says, is to collect the discharged water in a central
Francis Ho in front of a
plate-making wastewater
treatment system at C&C
Offset
48 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y ■ A U G U S T 2 7 , 2 0 1 8
finishing touches, and enhanced warehousing and logistical
support are just some of the ways these export printers differ-
entiate themselves from the run-of-the-mill players. Read on to
find out what is happening at their printing facilities and learn
about the new strategies they are devising for the publishing
industry.  ■
This feature is published with the support of the
printers covered in these articles.
station, where it then is filtered, has its chemicals replenished,
and is sent back to each printing press. “This recycling process
not only saves water but also cuts down on wastewater discharge
and gives us a standardized fountain solution across all printing
presses to ensure standardized printing quality,” he notes. “The
plate output wastewater discharge treatment follows a similar
process. At the end of 2017, we completed our VOCs [volatile
organic compounds] treatment facility, which has been approved
by local governments.”
Meanwhile, C&C’s investment in its production facilities has
continued even in tight economic situations. “In the second half
of this year, for instance,” Ho says, “we will add major binding
equipment for paperback and hardcover that is more suitable
for shorter print runs, which are now the norm in the publishing
industry.”
And it is no longer just about printing at C&C, Ho notes.
“Providing great value to each customer goes without saying—
that has always been at the core of our company—but we are
also about environmental protection, social accountability, and
diversification of services.” Right now, C&C is working on con-
necting the different services within its holding company, Sino
United Publishing, which also offers a China-based online shop-
ping platform and bonded warehousing services.
 Printing in Hong Kong & China

CTPS

Going Beyond Protecting the Print Book

Redefining the company as a core book printer with a slew of The counterfeiting of textbooks has been the
enhanced solutions offerings remains the focus at CTPS. “We bane of many educational publishers. Cengage
have developed and put together these solutions—EDI, inven- Learning, for instance, estimates that counterfeit
tory control, end-to-end project tracking, lettershopping, and materials cost the company between $70 million
logistics, for instance—since our investment in digital printing and $100 million annually.
technology in 2011,” says global business director John Currie. To curb counterfeiting, multinational educa-
“However, this concept is generally challenging to sell to pub- tional publishers such as Cengage Learning and
lishers because they often regard printers are pure print pro- Elsevier have turned to unique identifiers to
ducers and not necessarily as solutions or IT companies.” authenticate textbooks. This is nothing new, of
But those publishers that have engaged in digital supply course. Some 30 years ago, stickers on book cov-
chain transformation see the potential for printers that provide ers were widely used—and as readily copied by
software solutions or cloud-based content repository capabilities pirates. Ten years later, the buzz was about
and production workflow to help them meet shifting industry embedded RFID tags in book spines and covers.
needs. “We see this with educational and STM publishers who Today, a variation on the theme has emerged:
are looking at our cloud-based platform to track files coming much more sophisticated certification seals such
from their content service providers and to monitor the whole as Prooftag’s chaosmetric tag and OpSec’s holo-
printing and distribution processes,” Currie says. “At the end graphic label, which are cheaper to implement
of the day, our cloud-based solutions platform is helping pub- than RFID tags and do not require a special
lishers to move into much leaner practices—just-in-time [JIT] reader and scanner to work.
and reduced inventory, print-to-order, and print-on-demand— The ubiquity of mobile devices has further sim-
that better suit current publishing and economic realities.” plified the authentication process. When scanned
In 2015, CTPS partnered with an IT firm specializing in with a smart-device app, certification seals,
banking and financial information security to create its patented which often incorporate QR codes, automatically
Phygital Book technology, which offers encrypted QR code lead the buyer to an authentication website
solutions for content protection against counterfeiting and par- where the legitimacy of the book can be verified
allel importing. “We are currently applying two different QR (or a counterfeit copy duly reported).
code technologies for two publishing clients that have embarked But two questions remain: Will the readers (or
on global protection of their titles,” says CEO Peter Tse. “The buyers) scan the books in the first place? Do
complex workflow—covering our digital production system they care enough—or as much as the publishers
and the full activation, authentication, and track-and-trace do—about counterfeiting when they have cheaper
process—brings e-commerce services into play.” rip-offs in hand?
Two months ago, Tse also appointed a business partner to “Educational publishers today are dealing not
allow CTPS to directly print and deliver to China. “This brings only with printed content but also with digital
in new opportunities, particularly for digital print production assets such as online assessments and cloud-
based ancillaries, as well as meeting the urgent
needs for adaptive learning,” says John Currie,
global director of CTPS. “And stolen materials, as
we know, are not restricted to print content only;
the hacking and pirating of online content is just
as rampant. In other words, an effective anti-
counterfeiting measure must protect online
assets while acting as a bridge between print
and digital content.”
This is where CTPS’s patented Phygital Book
technology makes a difference, says CEO Peter
Tse, pointing out that the name itself clearly ref-
erences both physical and digital books. With
Phygital Book, the QR code on the cover leads to
a registration portal, effectively “binding” the
book to the mobile device (and by default, the
Peter Tse (l.) and John Currie at CTPS’s new office
in Kowloon, Hong Kong continued on p. 52

50 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y ■ A U G U S T 2 7 , 2 0 1 8
 Printing in Hong Kong & China
continued from p. 50
device owner).
“At the same time, it triggers access to the accompa-
nying digital content,” Currie says. “In this case, only
registered owners of the print content are allowed access
to the digital content. This is the push for print book
owners to authenticate their copy. Without authentica-
tion, they have no access to the accompanying digital
content, which is crucial to their studies and classwork.”
According to Tse, CTPS, with its digital ink-jet printing
capabilities, can easily place additional QR codes on
interior pages, where online access will lead to tests,
case studies, videos, or curated materials—all of which
can be updated on the publisher’s LMS without affecting
the printed content or QR codes. Marshall Cavendish
Education (Hong Kong) has been the first to adopt such
a seamless application.
Digital printing technology has also given publishers
the flexibility of on-demand printing and low print runs
and the ability to customize QR codes to fit a specific
class, university, or region. “This is a matter of populat-
ing the printing database and linking the QR codes to
the publisher’s LMS on our back end,” Currie says.
“With each book having its unique digital identity, which
is ‘tied’ to its owner, access to both print and online
content is enabled, secured, monitored, and tracked,
with analytics to support customized and personalized
learning paths. Phygital Book has the ability to integrate
such online/offline teaching/learning processes—and it
is up to the publishing clients to determine how far they
want to go.”
For used books and rental books, the encrypted QR
codes also allow publishers to capture secondhand and
subsequent user information. Obviously, while there is
no immediate monetary reason for doing so, such a
database holds the key to further content monetization
and discoverability.
CTPS has also simplified the tracing and tracking of
batches of books or editions for distribution. “Parallel
importation, especially of lower-priced international stu-
dent editions meant for use in specific countries, is one
big issue hitting publishers’ P&Ls,” Tse says. “With Phy-
gital Book, we can place QR codes on the packed car-
tons to ensure that the final destination is what it is
supposed to be. All these codes are stored in the data-
base and easily traced on a cloud-based dashboard to
prevent parallel importation.”
services in the booming Chinese market,” he notes. “Digital
printing is the most appropriate technology for print-to-order
and print-on-demand.”
CTPS, Tse says, “can offer print runs as low as 30 copies in
52 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y ■ A U G U S T 2 7 , 2 0 1 8
soft- and hard-bound through our digital operations, which
combine cover printing on Indigo presses with ink-jet web
printing.” He adds, “Books with high page counts and light-
weight paper with PUR binding, plastic spiral/tabbing, or
leather/PU bound and special finishes remain our niche seg-
ment. Our experience with printing on ultra-lightweight paper
is not easily replicated here in Asia or elsewhere. And now, with
our Phygital Book technology and cloud-based solutions plat-
form, we are in step with publishers looking for partners to help
them navigate a challenging and changing business environ-
ment, which is due mostly to digitization and globalization.”
Hung Hing
The consolidation of Hung Hing’s conventional printing busi-
ness in its Heshan manufacturing facility is complete, says COO
Richard Lim. “This will enable better asset utilization and
higher efficiencies in production planning,” he notes. “With the
greater number of binding lines in one location, we will be able
to capitalize on the increased capacity to produce larger volumes
of projects with shorter turnaround times.” Presently, the
Heshan facility has three hardcover and two limp-binding pro-
duction lines that are complemented by an additional hardcover
line in its Hong Kong plant.
This consolidation is one result of an exercise in identifying
the core expertise of the facilities that Hung Hing operates in
China and Hong Kong. “Our product ranges from children’s
novelty items and board books to corrugated packaging for
international and domestic clients,” Lim says, “and each facility
has its unique solutions and service levels. By identifying the
core expertise and investing appropriately, we will help each
facility and business unit manager to be more focused on ser-
vicing client needs and expanding accordingly.” Hung Hing’s
litho-laminate packaging business, for instance, operates on a
two-week turnaround from receipt of orders and is required to
provide storage facilities for JIT deliveries.
Hung Hing’s recent acquisition of Rengo Shunde in
Guangzhou is one step toward expanding its corrugating busi-
ness to meet domestic packaging demands with an eye on the
Matthew Yum, executive chairman of Hung Hing
 ZN']GXJVJL  63

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 Printing in Hong Kong & China
indirect export market in the coming years. The purchase of two
digital postpress machines—Highcon for laser die cutting and
Scodix for finishing enhancement—is all about short-runs,
personalization, and high-end touches. “Laser die cutting has
always been popular for greeting cards, and more publishers are
adopting it to create unique book designs,” says executive
chairman Matthew Yum. “There is also a growing interest in
applying the technique to rigid boxes and folding cartons, espe-
cially for cosmetics and FMCG products.”
Early this year, the team partnered with Fotomax, in Hong
Kong, to supply personalized red envelopes for the Chinese New
Year celebration; customers added their names in hot-foil or
laser-die-cut text through POS kiosks and had the finished
product delivered to them within seven days. “Aside from sup-
porting our existing B2B business for short-runs, we are also
busy exploring new applications suitable for the B2C market,”
Yum says.
A new greenfield factory in Vietnam, scheduled to commence
operations in mid-2019, kick-starts another new strategy for
Hung Hing. “We are seeking to leverage our risks and tap into
resources outside of China as we grow our core print and pack-
aging businesses,” Yum says, adding that the factory will first
serve Vietnam’s domestic packaging market and then look into
opportunities for direct paper product exports.
Imago
Recent months have seen the Imago team busy experimenting
with XCMYK, which offers an expanded color gamut while
retaining standard CMYK inks. “There are limitations in that
it can only be used on coated stock and must be printed stochas-
tically,” says president and CEO Howard Musk. “But it defi-
nitely has some promise.”
Musk notes that one of his production facilities “has recently
installed an MGI JETvarnish, which can do intricate raised UV
digitally and inline foiling with tight registration.” He adds,
“This solution is tar-
geted at the packaging
industry but can have
great applications for
book covers and dust
jackets.”
At another produc-
tion site, a gilding pro-
cess that can deboss
patterns into the foil
has been developed.
“One of our cover
material suppliers has
also developed a PU
material that is made
of two different col-
Howard Musk, president and CEO of ored layers,” Musk says.
Imago “The top layer can be
54 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y ■ A U G U S T 2 7 , 2 0 1 8
laser-etched away in intricate patterns to reveal the bottom
layer—something that is not achievable with thermo-reactive or
foil stamping. Stickers for both kids and adults are a big hit right
now, so we are also looking at new techniques for creating die-
cutting molds that will allow for more detailed kiss cutting.”
Business has been good for the last few years, Musk says, a
trend that has continued into the first half of 2018. From his
perspective, the U.S. publishing industry “looks healthy.”
“Our clients are being quite aggressive on first printing quan-
tities for high-profile authors,” Musk notes. “Publishers also
continue to want their books to stand out with cool-looking
covers, unique materials, and interactive inserts. There is also
the continuing trend for a portion of the print run to be a special
edition with upgraded materials and a slipcase.”
The idea of the book as a well-designed beautiful object is
very much alive, Musk says. “This extends beyond the tradi-
tional publishing industry. Clients from commercial and non-
profit organizations are looking for promotional pieces or guide-
books and wanting them in creative formats and packaging.”
Understandably, some Imago clients are concerned about the
ongoing trade war between China and the U.S. “While Imago’s
base is in China, we always have facilities in Southeast Asia,
Europe, and the rest of the world,” Musk says. “This makes us
uniquely positioned to provide alternative solutions for dealing
with issues such as content that cannot be printed in China,
tight schedules, or rising costs in a shifting global print market.”
Jade Productions
Working with self-publishing clients is not for short-term
thinkers or the impatient. “There is often a considerable lapse
of time between their orders,” says managing director Ken
Kong. “Self-publishing clients also have little, if any, experience
in getting their products manufactured, overseas or locally. The
hand-holding tends to be time-consuming compared to dealing
with established publishers. But experience has shown us that
these satisfied clients and repeat customers are great at recom-
mending our services, especially to their self-publishing com-
munity. So, for us, the rewards come in the longer term, mostly
through referrals and word-of-mouth.”
Encouraging self-publishing clients to share as much infor-
mation about their titles and ideas as possible is the first and
most important step. “The more we know about their content,
target consumer, price point, and thoughts, the better our rec-
ommendations on paper, ink, binding, and packaging get in
terms of meeting the actual requirements,” Kong says. “[Our
team] may know of techniques, accessories, or stocks available
in the market that will best suit the book concept. Self-
publishing clients may not be privy to such market information,
which is often practical, if not cost saving.”
The same goes for helping clients to understand shipping
options and related fees, Kong says. “Take shipping document
charges as an example. This cost is usually around $80, but
freight forwarders will charge an additional $60 or so for the
 Printing in Hong Kong & China
Chan Hon Kwong (l.) and Ken Kong of Jade Productions doing a press check
The Easiest Way ...
Your Production Team in Asia
A: Flat B, 6/F., Tung Chong Fty. Bldg., 655 King’s Road, North Point, Hong Kong
T: (852) 2967 9360
: jadeproductionsprinting
telex release fee unless we courier to the consignee
the hard copy of the shipping documents required
for custom clearance.”
Most clients, however, prefer telex release, Kong
says. “Once other shipping-related fees are added,
the total comes to around $250. That is a vast
increase from the $20 fees of, say, 15 years ago
when freight forwarders were making reasonably
good money on shipping costs. But when clients
started to handle the shipping details themselves
and major publishers consolidated shipments
through hard negotiation, freight forwarders began
increasing their FOB Hong Kong costs to counter
shrinking margins. This is something that we have
to explain to clients, especially those new to off-
shore manufacturing.”
The past year has seen publishing clients
becoming more active than in previous periods,
Kong says. “They were reprinting, albeit in small
quantities. While we expect their business to fur-
ther improve this year, we are also busy working on
advancing our contacts within the self-publishing
community, whose referrals often open up new
business opportunities for us.”
E: jadepro@jadeproductions.com.hk W: www.jadeproductions.com.hk
 Printing in Hong Kong & China

Leo Paper
Thanks to long-term strategic corporate planning
and business development needs, Leo Paper opened
a new factory (for roughly 1,000 workers) in
Hunan Province last year. “We simply do not see
any easing up on labor pressures—including tight
supply and high wages—in Guangdong Province
in the near future,” says director Alvin Lai. “Setting
up a new factory in Hunan, which is the province
north of Guangdong, makes perfect sense. Having
factories in different locations to meet different
product needs is a strategic move that also sup-
ports our transformation goal of technology-based
smart operations.”
Last year, Lai and his team kick-started a new
initiative, Factory Next, to bring about real-time,
data-driven production operations and new appli- L. to r.: Henry Woo, Andy Lau, and Alvin Lai of Leo Paper
cations in manpower and technology. “The main Meanwhile, one innovative offering from its LeoTouch sec-
goal is to increase operational efficiencies and enhance our ondary processes is set to provide book covers with an even
agility in meeting fast-changing market and client needs,” he stronger visual impact. “Our multilayer and multidimensional
says. “The groundwork commenced when we implemented lean embossing process will make a book stand out on the shelf,” says
manufacturing and management processes back in 2007. The Henry Woo, general manager of the OEM business department.
ensuing reengineering of our business process had simplified “It will help our clients to achieve market competitiveness and
complex and inefficient workflows, standardized processes, and product differentiation—the two areas crucial to their bottom
improved efficiencies. Now, as we embark on the next phase in line.”
our manufacturing journey, we are more convinced than ever Woo’s team has seen significant growth in the children’s book
that we are on the right track toward a smarter and more sus- business in recent months. “We saw growth of more than 30%
tainable future in our business.” in board book orders in the first half of 2018 compared to the
Deskilling workers is also taking place in the factory. “This same period in the previous year,” he notes.
is the result of long-term manpower planning and concerns over Leo Paper’s in-house experts have also successfully introduced
occupational health,” Lai says. “Now that our skilled workers three new eco-friendly types of materials for silk-screen var-
are nearing retirement age, we are working to simplify their nishing, UV curing, and adhesive cleaning that further enhance
labor-intensive tasks by means of automation. This reduces the its green manufacturing capabilities.
workload on existing workers, making it a win-win proposition
in terms of occupational health and labor retention. At the same Magnum Offset
time, certain tasks are becoming data-driven and require fewer Reliability, efficiency, and security are behind Magnum Offset’s
skills under smart manufacturing.” booming business in exhibition and financial products. “In May

It used to be that fantastic (and often abstract) on time but also at high quality and within budget.
A Sampler of
Outstanding
Projects

ideas that gave print manufacturers indigestion and
nightmares would originate from the publisher or
designer. These days, those ideas are just as likely
to come from the print manufacturers themselves in
a bid to add value to their services, highlight the
capabilities within their product development and
paper engineering divisions, and help their clients to
further differentiate their offerings on the shelves.
Advances in color-separation, printing, binding,
and postpress processes have made many seem-
ingly impossible project ideas deliverable not only
The following four projects—randomly chosen to high-
light different print product categories—exemplify the
capabilities and can-do spirit of Hong Kong and China
print manufacturers.
A Sticky Issue
Stickers of all kinds, including puffy, holographic, and
textured, are trendy right now, says Howard Musk,
president and CEO of Imago. “We recently produced
the Pipsticks gift line of notebooks, journals, and plan-
ners packed with different types of stickers for Work-

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 Printing in Hong Kong & China

and June and from August through October, the volume of orders received is often
overwhelming,” says overseas sales manager Alice Fan, who attributes the company’s
success at meeting the demands and rising production volumes of these clients to a
strong and experienced operations team.
“But there is an obvious talent shortage in the print manufacturing industry,” Fan
says, “which requires us to offer wages that are slightly higher than the market rate.”
She adds that rental fees for factory and warehouse space in Hong Kong have increased
significantly alongside costs of raw materials, transportation, and shipping in recent
months. “Unfortunately, because it is difficult to increase our prices, especially in the
periodical, exhibition, and financial product segments, the overall turnover has been
lower compared to previous years.”
However, with more than half of Magnum Offset’s business coming from domestic
clients, there is a buffer in the event the escalating trade conflict between the U.S. and
China hits the export printing market. “At the end of the day, our business strategy
remains simple: work hard and help our clients to the best of our ability and production
capability,” Fan says. “We believe that loyalty, reasonable prices, and the willingness to
service projects that other printers do not even want to consider are crucial to our busi-
ness longevity and prosperity. Magnum Offset has been around for 33 years, and our
stability, reliability, and efficiency wins clients and earns
their trust. These traditional business principles have
worked in the past and will work as we go forward.”
Trendwise, the use of mirror card on covers remains
popular. “The application of Cellotouch lamination to
dress up book covers is gaining favor,” Fan says. “Such
lamination offers a luxurious velvetlike texture and pro-
tective matte finish, which is both unusual and attrac-
tive, and is the perfect choice of lamination for high-end
products due to its durability and upmarket appeal.”
On the other hand, there is now a new range of paper
on the market that can provide even more depth to the
embossing effect. “The paper heightens the tactile expe-
Alice Fan, overseas sales rience, makes a greater impact, and delivers high-quality
manager at Magnum Offset
appeal in products such as coffee-table books or high-end
marketing collateral,” Fan says. “Since there have been no developments in embossing
techniques for a long time, I am really excited to see this new paper range and its
potential applications in embossing not just for covers or dust jackets but also for
interior pages of a book or catalogue.” ■

man,” he notes. “Bringing the

stickers and products together
took a lot of planning, from the
unique matchbook-style bind-
ing for the notepads to the
double elastics for the jour-
nals, which function as book-
marks and closures. Then
there were laminated tabs, foil
bags, post-its, and postcards
as well as intricate die cutting
for some of the stickers.”
 Printing in Hong Kong & China

A Weighty Topic
Covering more than 460 pages and housed inside a gift box,
the large-format Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa (35 cm x 46 cm) weighs
11 kg. “While the 4,000-copy print run is not a big order, the
printing process was quite complex,” says production direc-
tor Chan Hon Kwong of Jade Productions. “In addition to
CMYK, the book designer used metallic PMS in different
chapters, with several signatures in seven-color printing,
which was CMYK plus three metallic PMS.” Then there was
the question of how to pack the heavy title. “At the end, we
tailor-made a carrying carton with interlocking construc-
tion—with no packing tape required—so that it is easy for
the buyer to carry the book home after purchase.”

Redefining Complexity
Beauty and the Beast, praised as “an engineering wonder”
by the Printing Industries of America, won three Benny
awards at the 2017 Premier Print Awards and later swept
the top prizes at both the Gold Ink and China Print Awards.
“Our product engineering team collaborated closely with our
client, Ronshin Group, right from the start and was inspired
by the traditional Chinese lantern in creating this
360-degree pop-up,” says Andy Lau, general manager for
sales at Leo Paper. “Several Chinese cultural elements—
intricate die cutting and lighting effects, for instance—were
added to this beloved Disney classic. The result was a har-
monious East/West blend of product that is targeted at the
domestic Chinese market. Extensive application of
LeoTouch secondary processes further enhanced the value
of this book and increased its appeal for children and par-
ents alike.”

When Every Minute Counts

Having a production facility with complete in-house capabili-
ties covering CtP, printing, binding, and transportation is cru-
cial for ultrashort projects. “For daily show newsletters, for
instance, the files usually arrive in the late afternoon,” says
Percy Leung of the overseas sales team of Magnum Offset.
“The printing is done throughout the night, with delivery to
the exhibition halls finished by seven the following morning.”
Leung says that such saddle-stitched dailies tend to be
between eight and 20 pages in length with print runs of
15,000 to 20,000 copies in bilingual language editions.
“Many clients had their ultrashort projects rejected by print-
ers who do not operate a night shift, who have workers unin-
terested in overtime, or who do not have complete in-house
production facilities,” he notes. “For us, such projects pro-
vide opportunities to develop a niche market—and clients
are more than happy to pay extra for overnight delivery—
while providing a much-needed service to exhibitors and
exhibition organizers.”

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