Heidelberg celebrates 20 years of production in Shanghai

Two decades ago, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG) made a strategic move by establishing its own production site in China — a milestone that has since become central to the company’s global success. In the 2024/25 financial year, the site achieved record results, assembling around 1,500 printing units, exporting 40 percent of its output to 70 countries, and bringing total deliveries to over 16,000 printing and coating units and nearly 3,300 presses.

Founded in 2005 with the assembly of simple folding machines, the Shanghai site (formerly known as Qingpu) has grown into one of HEIDELBERG’s most important manufacturing hubs. Spanning 100,000 square meters—including 70,000 square meters of production space across three assembly shops—it employs around 600 staff, producing medium- and large-format units such as the Speedmaster CX 92, SX 102, and CX 104.

Since opening its Print Media Center in 2015, the site has become a regional hub for customer demonstrations, training, and innovation. “Our Shanghai plant exemplifies HEIDELBERG’s growth strategy, proving that local production and global expertise lead to worldwide success,” said Jürgen Otto, CEO of HEIDELBERG.

China remains HEIDELBERG’s largest single market, driven by rapid growth in packaging printing, which now accounts for nearly 50 percent of the nation’s printing industry. With a 50 percent market share in modern sheetfed offset systems, HEIDELBERG continues to strengthen its role in China’s evolving printing sector.

“The machines produced in Shanghai meet the same quality standards as those from Germany— ‘Made by HEIDELBERG’ is a global promise our customers can trust,” Otto emphasized.