from 9 to 13 April in Guangdong province KBA-China announced that it had won a major contract Jiangsu Henghua Media in Zhenjiang, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, will buy two 16pp Compacta 215 web presses and four Rapida 105 sheetfed presses, in a deal worth “a double-digit million” Euro amount. 

Henghua Caiyin, headed by president Cai Tingzhao, was originally a packaging printing plant for the parent’s vinegar products, but has been transformed into a leading producer of high-quality packaging and a global supplier. KBA has installed Rapida 105 and 162a presses in past years. 

Now parent the Hengshun group is moving into the commercial market with a new subsidiary, Jiangsu Henghua Media, which is also headed by Cai.

The two webs – slated to come on stream in next year’s northern spring –will be configured with four double printing couples, KBA reelstands, KBA infeed units, dryers with integrated afterburners, extensively automated F3 folders and new-generation console technology. The sheetfed presses are four, five and six-colour versions.

The new presses will mainly print magazines. KBA is looking forward to helping Cai and his team raise commercial production in Jiangsu to an international standard with cutting-edge sheetfed and web technology. 

Hengshun, which went public in 1999, has numerous subsidiaries, and this longstanding policy of diversification has been key in keeping pace with Jiangsu’s rapid growth. The group parent, Hengshun Vinegar, was founded in 1840, and is one of China’s biggest producers of fine vinegars and also exports to Europe. 

Pictured on the KBA stand (from left) Han Shao Sheng, KBA-Shanghai web department manager; Andreas Friedrich, general manager web sales and service KBA Greater China; Ralf Sammeck, executive vice president KBA sheetfed sales; Cai Tingzhao, president of Zhenjiang Lanhetai Color-Printing Packing and Jiangsu Henghua Media; Dietmar Heyduck, KBA vice president sales; Zhang Shimei, general manager of Jiangsu Henghua Media and KBA-China sales director Huang Nanbiao