China’s packaging industry has become a world leader and its annual gross value of production has grown by an average of 20% in the last five years. Mainland China’s packaging industry’s output value reached RMB 860 billion (USD 125.9 billion) in 2008. This confirms China as the world’s second largest packaging producer. In accordance with this momentum, the total output value of China’s packaging industry is sure to exceed RMB 1.2 trillion (USD 175.7 billion) in value by 2010. Currently, China’s production of corrugated packaging products, composite flexible packaging, metal drums, containers, plastic bags and other products is second to none. The paper packaging products have equaled RMB 500 million (USD 73.2 million) in retail sales in the domestic market and RMB 4.1 trillion (USD 600 billion) in exported products
In 2008, China consumed more than 33.6 billion sqm of corrugated board, an increase of 8.8 billion sqm over four years. The annual rate of growth was 11.9%, significantly more than the average value and the total value of corrugated carton was RMB 146 billion (USD 21.4 billion). Total production was expected to reach 36.7 billion sqm in 2009, accounting for 19.3% of world output. This would mean China would surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest corrugated packaging country because while the former is experiencing fast-growing paper sales, the latter, together with the rest of the world, is seeing its sales shrinking.
According to China’s macroeconomic development and the paper and packaging industry’s development trends, it is expected that between 2005 and 2015, China’s paper and paperboard demand, will go from 1022.92* in 2005 to 1368.9* to 1747.1* in 2015. The changes of corrugated board-making raw paper demand are growing from 985.47* in 2005 to 1318.78* in 2010 to 1638.14 in 2015*. The corrugated packaging industry still has much room for development in the coming decade. Packaging materials and systems are the keys to reducing total cost so the global corrugated carton industry must face up to the problem of how to effectively control production costs and provide customers with comprehensive services.
Competition in global corrugated packaging focuses on the economic costs of carton enterprises. Lightweight, quantification, resource saving and cost-reduction of corrugated carton is an outcome of scientific and technological development and a significant contribution to society’s prosperity and it is undoubtedly the future of corrugated carton.