In China, the 3D printing industry is growing rapidly and the technology is becoming more and more popular in many areas over the years. From small 3D printed objects like jewelry and replicas of dinosaur bones, to large 3D printed structures like mansions and 5-story buildings. The technology has indeed attracted the attention of many other industries in China such as manufacturing, aviation, automobile, engineering, construction, medicine, education, and space exploration.

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China's 3D printing market size was estimated to value about $600,000 in early 2015, and is now expected to reach about $1.6 billion in 2016. The country currently owns about 8.7 percent of all 3D printers worldwide and is expected to overtake the United States in sales and shipments by the end of this year, with an annual growth rate of over 100 percent.

To support the adoption of 3D printing technology and innovation, the Chinese government recently launched the "Made in China 2025" initiative which aims to rebuild the industry over the next decades. The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, along with other authorities, have also established a project in which it will spend about $313 million in investment for research and development in 3D printing in the next three years.

Additionally, the government also announced plans to make 3D printers widely available in approximately 400,000 elementary schools in the next two years. Shenzhen-based company Weistek Co., which was founded in 2011, is apparently taking advantage of this opportunity by launching what it claims to be the world's first educational 3D printer for children called MiniToy.

MiniToy was first unveiled during this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, and the printer also earned a "China Daily Innovation Award" at the recent Global Sources Electronics Show which took place in Hong Kong.

To take advantage of the growing consumer 3D printing market in China, one of the country's top technology brand Lenovo Group Ltd. announced its entry into the business in 2015. Now, the company has launched its very first product called the XiaoXin L20 smart 3D printer. According to Lenovo's 3D printing business manager, Mu Zhen, the 3D printing market in China has become the "third largest in the world", accounting for 13 percent of the global market's revenue.

As for 3D printing in space, following the footsteps of NASA, scientists from the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization (CSU) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing have been working on a zero-gravity 3D printer along with the Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology (CIGIT).

Their zero-gravity 3D printer is expected to help China build a space station by 2020, according to Duan Xuanming, who is the head of the 3D printing research center at the Chongqing Institute. Professor Wang Gong of CSU said, "3D printing has a very efficient and flexible character, and is expected to become one of the most important tools in spacecraft manufacturing technology."

Tags3D Printing Technology News, 3D Printing China, 3D-printer, 3D Printing Industry Market, 3D Printing Construction Space Medical Industrial Manufacturing Aviation