A six-tower KBA press with heatset capability launches Chinese media enterprise Huashang Digital into the year of the Dragon – associated in astrology and mythology with change and entrepreneurial success – as it means to go on.

Based in Xian, in northwest China, the company has ordered a classic Commander pressline with a Berliner format. It will be the first of its kind in China and only the second in Asia.

The order reflects Huashang’s commitment to maintaining its present rapid growth rate. Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, is a huge market with a population of four million.

Huashang Digital’s 600-plus employees produce the ‘Huashang Bao’, ‘Xinwenhua Bao’ and ‘Chongqing Shibao’. With contracts for the parent Huashang Media Group and other publishing houses, the company prints a total of almost 100 titles.

Huashang Media Group has over 15,000 employees and annual sales of around 3.3 billion renminbi (approximately $530m), making it a heavyweight in the Chinese media sector. Its diverse operations embrace newspapers, magazines, internet activities, publishing houses, delivery services, printing plants, trade fairs and outdoor advertising.

Huashang Digital general manager Wang Xiao Di says installation of a big KBA Comet pressline at Huashang Bao newspaper group in 2004 had demonstrated the german maker’s competence and reliability. “Worldwide, and particularly here in China, the Commander’s high output, flexibility and superb print quality have gained it an outstanding reputation. KBA’s advanced technology will enable us to satisfy even the most challenging production specifications.”

He says the order was influenced by the “flawless” performance of the Comet and the satisfaction of Commander users visited.

The press will come on stream in the first half of next year. It will have a cylinder circumference of 940 mm and comprise six Pastomat reelstands, six four-high printing towers, a thermal dryer and two KF 5 double jaw folders. Stitchers, length perforators and a plough fold capability for four-page centre spreads will offer additional flexibility.

A double-width infeed will allow the press to produce up to 180,000 24-page full-colour copies per hour.

The heatset web can be any width between 1200 mm and 1280 mm.

Automation includes colour and cut-off register controls, ink-pumping, a RIP interface, print job preparation and presetting software and six EAE consoles.

Huashang will also install a Ferag mailroom at the Xian site.