Messe Düsseldorf, the organiser of print Mecca drupa, has joined forces with the Printing and Printing Equipment Industries Association of China (PEIAC) to present a new trade show dedicated to functional printing. Functional Printing China will be a one-day conference held on May 16th as part of the China Print trade show in Beijing.

"Functional printing in China is in the early stages of very promising developments," explains Hans Werner Reinhard, deputy managing director at Messe Düsseldorf and chairman of Messe Düsseldorf China. "Be it in medicine, consumer electronics, in the field of packaging, be it on paper, film, metal, glass or other printing substrates – the spectrum of applications for this bridge technology makes for exciting functionalities opening up completely new markets."

The new event is expected to be held annually, and from 2014 will be extended to include an exhibition space. This year's conference speakers will include Wolfgang Mildner of PolyIC and the Organic Electronic Association, Stan Farnsworth of NovaCentrix and Dr Martin Schmitt-Lewen of Heidelberg.