century B.C., where individual sheets of paper were pressed against wooden blocks that had text and illustrations carved into them. Since it could print hundreds and even thousands of copies, this technology played a significant role in promoting the spread of culture. However, it took much time to carve the blocks and a lot of space to store the blocks, and it was difficult to correct the wrongly carved characters. Moreover, the blocks soon became misshapen, moth-eaten and corroded.

During the period from1004 to 1048, a block carver named Bi Sheng made movable types with clay. Each type was carved with one character and the types could be set independently according to contents of different articles. After printing, the movable types could be reused. This improved technology is called movable-type printing.

Simple and original, its theory is used in modern type printing technology. Later on, with the introduction of wooden, metal and lead types, the movable-type printing technology was much improved.

Block printing technology was taken to Japan and Korea in the eighth century, and the wooden movable-type printing technology to Korea and Japan in the 14th century and later to Europe from China's Xinjiang via Persia (now Iran) and Egypt.

Now, laser typesetting has been adopted in China's printing industry. Perhaps in the future laser typesetting will become obsolete as digital technologies come to the fore in computer-to-plate printing.

According to Zhang Shuangru, Excutive Vice Chairman of the China Printing Technology Association, by the end of 2006, China had registered some 100,000 printing companies, employing 3.45 million people. The printing industry's output value accounted for 2 percent of the country's GDP that year, and the rate is expected to climb to 2.5 percent by 2010, with the industry's production capacity ranking third in the world.