Situated on the Zhu Jiang (Pearl river), Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, is one of the fastest-growing business centres in southern China. In June its population of 10 million inhabitants was swelled by a large gathering of Chinese commercial printers. The reason for the gathering was an open house at Huanan Printing to celebrate the official inauguration of a 16-page Compacta 215 commercial press – the first in China – which came on stream a few months ago. More than 150 print professionals travelled from all over this vast country to see the press in action. Dinner at the Ramada Pearl Hotel the evening before provided a splendid opportunity for talking shop. Walter Zehner, head of the KBA sales and service office in China, looked back on the group's successful performance to date in both the sheetfed and newspaper markets there and emphasised KBA's commitment to further expansion in the future. Ou Gui Hai, president of Huanan Printing, outlined his company's history and briefly described the new press, which was delivered at roughly the same time as a Rapida 105 sheetfed offset press. Guest speaker Wu Wen Xiang, president of the Chinese Printing Association, lauded KBA's achievements to the benefit of the Chinese graphics arts industry in recent years.