Analysis of the Current State of China’s Flexible Packaging Industry

　　In the packaging industry, flexible packaging has emerged as one of the dominant forms of product presentation on retail shelves, thanks to its vibrant colors, versatile functionality, and diverse aesthetic appeal. The rapid advancement of China’s flexible‑packaging sector has significantly boosted the growth of industries such as food and daily chemicals; in turn, this expansion has further fueled demand for flexible packaging, providing the industry with substantial market momentum. With the ongoing development of functional packaging materials and continuous improvements in processing technologies, flexible packaging is assuming an increasingly pivotal role across numerous sectors. This article provides an overview of the current state of the domestic flexible‑packaging industry.

　　Equipment and technological levels in the flexible packaging industry

　　In recent years, driven by technological advances and market growth, customer expectations for product quality and service have continued to rise, intensifying competition among firms. Coupled with profound shifts in the political, economic, and social landscape, China’s flexible packaging industry has gradually evolved into a fully competitive sector. Profit margins across the industry have narrowed steadily, while the number of loss-making companies continues to grow; one after another, once‑thriving enterprises have succumbed to the harsh realities of cutthroat competition—signaling that an era of razor‑thin margins is upon us, unfolding as an irreversible trend.

　　China’s modern flexible packaging industry has a development history spanning more than two decades. Over this period, the sector has grown rapidly from a nascent industry to a mature one, now exhibiting clear trends toward corporate consolidation and large-scale operations. World‑class printing companies are accelerating their expansion in China through methods such as acquiring controlling stakes, establishing wholly owned production facilities and holding companies, and merging with or acquiring leading Chinese enterprises. Meanwhile, domestic flexographic printing firms have recognized both the challenges and the substantial opportunities ahead, adopting various strategies to scale up their operations and move into adjacent segments of the value chain.

　　At present, mainland China has approximately 400 imported gravure printing lines for flexible packaging and nearly 1,000 domestically produced wide‑web, high‑speed gravure lines; the manufacturing capabilities of these lines have either approached or reached the levels of developed countries. Meanwhile, there are countless lower‑end, narrow‑web gravure lines for flexible packaging. In addition, in recent years, thanks to the continuous efforts of Chinese flexographic professionals and the adoption of cutting‑edge laser direct plate‑making technology along with high‑quality inks and consumables such as flexible plates, the quality of flexographically printed flexible packaging has steadily improved, and its applications have become increasingly widespread.

　　With the continuous improvement of equipment and raw‑material quality, coupled with increasingly extensive experience in production, operations, and management, China’s flexible packaging industry has made rapid strides in technological advancement, resulting in a substantial enhancement in product quality. In terms of print quality alone, the industry has reached a remarkably high standard, with printing performance far surpassing that of comparable products from developed countries and regions in Europe and North America.

　　At present, the soft‑packaging industry in mainland China is at a higher overall development level than in Russia and other Eastern European countries, as well as than in most other Asian nations except Japan and South Korea. Its development level is broadly comparable to that of South Korea and Taiwan, China. The principal gaps between China’s soft‑packaging sector and those of developed countries lie in product standards and in mid‑ to high‑end modern packaging materials, particularly in the research, development, and application of specialized, function‑specific packaging materials.

　　Flexible Packaging Equipment Manufacturing Industry

　　China’s gravure‑printing and laminating equipment manufacturing industry has a history of just over a decade. Building on imported machinery, and through technology absorption, replication, and independent R&D, the sector has made significant progress in recent years. Today, China can produce gravure presses with printing speeds exceeding 300 m/min and web widths of more than 1,000 mm, as well as dry‑lamination machines, extrusion‑lamination lines, slitting machines, and fully automatic bag‑making machines capable of producing bags at speeds of over 100 bags per minute. Domestic equipment has now reached technological maturity, supplying a substantial share of the domestic flexible‑packaging market. Companies such as Shaanxi Beiren, Zhongshan Songde, Shantou Qingji, and Shantou Huaying have virtually captured the domestic mid‑ to high‑end gravure‑printing and flexible‑packaging equipment segments.

　　In recent years, as the growth rate of China’s flexible packaging industry has leveled off, the domestic market for flexible packaging machinery has also become more subdued. Meanwhile, the flexible packaging sector in many overseas markets continues to expand, prompting numerous equipment manufacturers to turn their attention to international markets.

　　Chinese equipment, with its outstanding cost-effectiveness, enjoys strong market competitiveness in international markets, particularly in Southeast Asia, West Asia, and Northeast Asia. Meanwhile, plate-making companies, film manufacturers, and producers of inks and adhesives are also actively expanding into overseas markets.

　　Flexible packaging film substrate

　　In recent years, China’s flexible packaging film substrate industry has experienced rapid growth. Domestically produced BOPP, BOPET, BOPA, CPP, PE, VMPET, and VMCPP film substrates not only meet the demands of the domestic market but are also exported to international markets.

　　BOPP is the most widely used material in the flexible packaging sector, prized for its lightweight, transparency, non-toxicity, moisture resistance, low gas permeability, and high mechanical strength, and thus extensively employed in food, pharmaceutical, tobacco, and other industries. In recent years, the production of BOPP film has yielded substantial profits, spurring rapid growth in the industry and leading to severe overcapacity in certain regions. BOPET film, with its excellent flatness, superior sealing properties, high temperature resistance, high tensile strength, and outstanding transparency and gloss, has seen a swift increase in demand in the packaging market. Meanwhile, BOPA film, owing to its softness and puncture resistance, is widely utilized for packaging high‑temperature retorted foods, boiled foods, and vacuum‑packed products, and domestic production capacity for BOPA film is steadily expanding.

　　Today, some technologically advanced flexible‑packaging printing plants are continually raising new performance requirements for film substrates, particularly in areas such as shallow‑screen printing, transparency, and lamination strength. Customer demands for BOPP heat‑sealable films vary considerably; given the wide variety of both new and legacy packaging machinery in China and the significant disparities in technological sophistication, no single type of BOPP heat‑sealable film can operate smoothly on all packaging lines. As the BOPP film industry has evolved, BOPP films have acquired numerous new attributes, giving rise to several emerging market segments, including ultra‑thin BOPP films, high‑transparency BOPP films, BOPP films with superior printability, UV‑resistant BOPP films, environmentally friendly and biodegradable BOPP films, anti‑fog BOPP films, colored BOPP films, BOPP label films, printable shrink‑wrap films, metallocene‑catalyzed BOPP films, high‑barrier BOPP films, BOPP synthetic paper, and BOPP twist‑tie films. All of these developments provide a solid foundation for BOPP film manufacturers to adopt differentiation strategies.

　　In addition, thin-film substrate manufacturers have exhibited a clear trend toward large-scale operations and corporate consolidation, with price competition gradually becoming more rational and enabling them to wield greater pricing influence.

　　Flexible packaging printing ink

　　Currently, gravure inks used for reverse printing are typically formulated from chlorinated polymers. During ink production, these polymers must be dissolved using strong solvents—such as toluene and other aromatic solvents—and toluene is also employed during printing to adjust the ink’s viscosity. Today, chlorinated polymer‑based ink systems are regarded as environmentally unfriendly because the chlorofluorocarbons they release during manufacturing deplete the atmospheric ozone layer, while the use of aromatic solvents like toluene in both production and printing poses health and safety risks to workers. Moreover, residual solvent contamination in packaging is another critical concern: since aromatic solvents such as toluene are slow‑drying, they readily remain in the dried ink film, potentially contaminating the packaged product and generating off‑odors.

　　The production of gravure inks for flexible packaging is increasingly subject to numerous regulatory requirements; accordingly, the development and adoption of environmentally friendly, green gravure inks has become an inevitable trend. Companies such as Zhejiang New Oriental Ink, Tianjin Toyo Ink, and DIC Ink have already been among the first to obtain China’s Environmental Label certification for green ink products. The environmentally sustainable evolution of gravure inks for flexible packaging is proceeding as follows.

　　(1) Reduce solvent residues in existing ink products. This measure is primarily aimed at inks specially formulated for BOPP films and involves, among other strategies, selecting binders with excellent solvent‑release properties and incorporating additives to facilitate the volatilization of aromatic hydrocarbons. However, since the binder system inherently precludes the complete elimination of aromatic hydrocarbons, such products are inevitably destined to be phased out from an environmental perspective.

　　(2) Benzene-free inks. In theory, these inks contain no aromatic hydrocarbon solvents; however, during raw material storage, transportation, manufacturing, and application, trace amounts of aromatic hydrocarbon solvents may inevitably be introduced.

　　(3) Alcohol-soluble inks free of benzene and ketones. In response to increasingly stringent solvent‑residue regulations, major ink manufacturers are now introducing alcohol‑soluble inks. These inks contain no aromatic hydrocarbons or ketone solvents, relying instead on ester‑ and alcohol‑based solvents, and are characterized by low odor and high color brilliance. Their adoption is sure to enhance the competitiveness of gravure printing in the packaging‑printing sector.

　　(4) Universal inks. At present, the inks used by flexible‑packaging manufacturers are generally tailored to specific substrates, with no interchangeability across different materials. This leads to an increasing number of ink SKUs in inventory, cumbersome management, lengthy on‑line processing steps, and difficulties in disposing of leftover ink. How to recover and reuse spent ink is one of the key challenges facing flexographic printing companies in the flexible‑packaging sector. Universal inks can effectively address these issues: they are compatible with a wide range of film substrates and also facilitate standardized color management.

　　(5) Water-based inks. Water-based inks eliminate pollution from volatile organic compounds, improve the printing environment, and promote human health, making them particularly suitable for packaging products with stringent hygiene requirements, such as food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, they help mitigate fire hazards associated with static electricity and flammable solvents, and reduce residual solvent odors on printed surfaces. Water-based inks have already found widespread use in paper printing.

　　However, a number of challenges remain with thin-film substrates; only white ink has achieved large-scale application, while other colored inks are gradually gaining market traction.

　　Composite adhesive

　　At present, the composite adhesives commonly used in China’s flexible packaging industry include two-component polyurethane adhesives, water‑soluble acrylic adhesives, water‑soluble polyurethane adhesives, alcohol‑soluble adhesives, and solvent‑free adhesives. The development of China’s flexible packaging sector has been closely tied to advances in domestic two-component polyurethane adhesive technology; however, in recent years, under the pressure of growing environmental concerns, these adhesives have faced unprecedented challenges, giving rise to the following trends.

　　(1) Develop composite adhesives with high solid content, low viscosity, and minimal solvent residue. Domestic adhesive manufacturers have reached a mature stage, with significantly strengthened R&D capabilities, giving rise to several leading companies such as Zhejiang New Oriental, the Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Industry, and Beijing Gaomeng Chemical.

　　Currently, high-solid-content, low-viscosity adhesives have become a key development trend in dry‑lamination adhesives. At the same coating weight, using high-solid-content adhesives can significantly reduce solvent consumption and offer the following advantages: lower solvent usage; reduced drying load, leading to higher production efficiency and lower energy consumption; and decreased residual solvent levels. Previously, the solid content of the main component in two‑component polyurethane adhesives was 35% or 50%; today, it has been increased to 75% or 80%. Two‑component polyurethane adhesives with a 75% solid content now account for 60% of the market share, while the market share of those with 50% solid content is shrinking and has fallen below 30%.

　　(2) Development of water-based adhesives. Water-based adhesives offer several advantages: they replace organic solvents with water, eliminating the potential risks of combustion and explosion; they are environmentally friendly and non‑toxic to operators; and they are relatively low‑cost. However, these adhesives exhibit poor coating performance and inadequate wetting of composite substrates, resulting in suboptimal adhesion. At present, conventional water-based adhesives are suitable only for certain lightweight packaging applications; for more demanding material structures, further improvements in adhesive performance remain necessary.

　　In 2007, waterborne adhesives achieved relatively widespread adoption, driven by consumer acceptance, manufacturers’ efforts to cultivate the waterborne adhesive market, and the rising costs of solvent-based adhesives resulting from the sustained increase in raw material prices for two-component polyurethane adhesives.

　　(3) Development of solvent-free adhesives. Solvent-free adhesives are essentially two-component polyurethane adhesives; their base and curing agents exhibit relatively high viscosities at room temperature yet remain flowable, existing as semi-solid materials. The solvent-free lamination process eliminates the issue of organic waste‑gas emissions, features simple equipment, consumes less energy, and is well suited to reducing costs, conserving resources, and protecting the environment. Consequently, it will become the primary direction for the future development of lamination technologies. At present, most mid- and low‑end flexible packaging can be produced using solvent-free adhesives; however, due to constraints such as lamination quality, solvent-free lamination has not yet fully replaced dry lamination. Looking ahead, as environmental regulations become increasingly stringent and the economy continues to grow, the share of solvent-free adhesive products in the market is bound to rise steadily.

　　(4) Development and application of alcohol‑soluble polyurethane adhesives. These adhesives can be diluted with ethanol, resulting in minimal solvent residues under normal conditions; moreover, ethanol is inexpensive, which effectively reduces composite production costs. In addition, alcohol‑soluble polyurethane adhesives exhibit excellent compatibility and strong bonding performance with alcohol‑soluble inks, and they can cure at room temperature, eliminating the need for curing‑oven expenses. Owing to these advantages, alcohol‑soluble polyurethane adhesives are expected to gradually capture a significant share of the market.

　　Intaglio plate making

　　In recent years, driven by the rapid growth of the domestic packaging market and the swift upgrading of international gravure plate‑making equipment, China’s gravure plate‑making technology has advanced rapidly. Plate‑making companies have proliferated, product quality has improved markedly, and production lead times have been steadily shortened. The number of electronic engraving machines in China has already reached several hundred, making the country the world’s largest regional hub for plate‑making. As the number of plate‑making firms continues to expand, total output has risen accordingly, market segmentation has become more refined, and intensifying price competition has led to a sharp decline in corporate profits, with plate‑making prices now at relatively low levels. Consequently, many large gravure plate‑making enterprises have shifted their focus to areas such as transfer printing plates, leather embossing plates, and anti‑counterfeiting printing plates.