Press manufacturer Heidelberg hopes to push further into China with a production joint venture with Masterwork.

The closer cooperation with its long-standing partner and strategic anchor shareholder will be most evident at its production site near Shanghai, with both companies expecting cooperation on joint parts production at Masterwork's site in Tianjin to expand.

Heidelberg chief executive Rainer Hundsdörfer says the manufacturing joint venture is "a further milestone" in a successful cooperation. "With a sales volume of around 300 million Euro, China is Heidelberg's most important single market in the graphic arts industry."

Production is scheduled to start at Masterwork's new site in Tianjin at the beginning of 2021.