Northeim, Germany/Shanghai, China - Eco-friendly printing blankets made in Germany are finding more and more fans in China. With its CONTI-AIR^® and PHOENIX XTRA BLANKETS brands, ContiTech Elastomer Coatings has increased sales in China by more than ten percent in the last 12 months. „We are enjoying growth despite the slight slowdown in economic growth in China and the stagnation of the offset market worldwide,“ says Dr. Thomas Perkovic, head of the printing blanket segment at ContiTech. With sales topping the market average there by more than ten percent, ContiTech also picked up ground in the NAFTA region.

Performing above average in China, products for sheet offset, packaging print, and metal decoration are a factor driving growth. Another is a heightened awareness of quality and the environment. „Chinese printing shops are increasingly focusing on high-quality premium products that create an even more compelling print image and are more economical because they last longer,“ said Perkovic. The heightened environmental awareness is boosting demand for climate-friendly and climate-neutral printing blankets, such as those produced by ContiTech in particular. The company not only refrains from using solvents in production. It has also optimized its procedures to ensure that CO₂ emissions are much lower than with standard products. By means of certificates, ContiTech printing blanket production process is, moreover, climate-neutral, at no extra expense to the customer.

Thanks to a dynamic sales policy on the ground and cooperation with a large dealer in Hong Kong, ContiTech has managed to secure a market share of almost 15 percent in China in recent years. „We will continue to expand and strengthen our local presence,“ says Perkovic. In Shanghai, ContiTech already has its own service center for the graphics industry. Here, CONTI-AIR^® brand printing blankets are cut to size and prepared for use in printing machines.

ContiTech - 2,400 employees in China

ContiTech has been active in China for 30 years. With components and systems - such as hose line systems, vibration components, air springs, surface materials, conveyor belts, drive belts, or coated fabrics - currently produced within the country at ten modern production plants, ContiTech very successfully serves the needs of the automotive industry, machine and plant engineering and construction, mining, the printing industry, and rail transportation. The company presently has around 2,400 employees in China.