Small-batch and custom production, aerospace, medical implants and application scenarios worth tens of billions of yuan

As reported by CCTV+, China’s 3D printing — from high-tech manufacturing to everyday goods — is accelerating its expansion across various sectors. The technology is becoming a key driver of industrial modernization.

The first to scale up 3D printing will not be large products, but small-batch, custom-made and structurally complex items. In consumer goods, watch cases, accessories, shoe soles and uppers are becoming more accessible to 3D printing. Some brands have already introduced it for producing metal watch cases.

In the medical field, the advantages of 3D printing are even more obvious. Custom implants, dental prosthetics, hearing aids and surgical instruments — this is where the technology can perform best.

In the industrial sector, heat sinks, heat exchangers and complex structural components deserve more attention. Thanks to the ability to create single-piece parts, many internal structures that are difficult to produce using traditional methods can now be created directly. The aerospace industry has already begun applying components such as heat exchangers and injectors to make parts lighter, higher quality and more efficient.

Li Fangzheng, Executive Director and CEO of the Industrial and Information Technology Equipment Research Institute (Beijing), noted: “In the future, thanks to continuous breakthroughs in technological progress, cost reduction and efficiency gains, 3D printing is turning from an option into a necessity in manufacturing processes. Application scenarios worth tens of billions of yuan are emerging one after another, and the industry’s scale is gradually approaching a hundred billion yuan. At the same time, the consumer market for the general public continues to grow, and 3D printing technology and products are gradually moving from factories into thousands of households.”

3D printing is no longer the preserve of futurists. It is already here. Watch cases, shoes, implants, aircraft parts — all are being 3D printed. Individually, cheaply, with high quality. The technology is becoming not just an alternative, but a necessity. The market is measured in tens and hundreds of billions of yuan. The question is not whether 3D printing will replace traditional manufacturing. The question is how quickly it will happen. And who will be able to offer the boldest and most effective solutions. China is already printing the future. Layer by layer. And it is getting closer.