Qiu Zhonghui, general secretary of the Amity Foundation, displays the 100 millionth Bible printed by Amity in his office. Photo: Liu Dong/GT
A collection of different versions of the Bible printed by Amity on display in their office Photo: Liu Dong/GT
Some points from the news story:
In 1986, a joint venture called the Amity Printing Press was founded by the Amity Foundation and the United Bible Societies (UBS), a British-based group dedicated to providing access to Christian literature, which respectively owned 75 and 25 percent of shares.
At a farmland in a remote area of Nanjing, Amity built up the then most advanced printing factory in Asia and launched the country's Bible industry, which would grow into something beyond anyone's imagination.
In just two years, Amity had printed a million Bibles and its first 10 million by 1995. When the factory moved to its new 87,000-square-meter location in 2008, its annual production had reached 18 million. On November 2012, the 100 millionth bible printed by Amity rolled off the production line.
Over the past 10 years, Amity has exported more than 50 million Bibles to more than 55,000 churches in 70 countries and regions. After seeing off major Asian competitor Korea with its high quality, low price and good service, Amity's main rivals are now India, the Neatherlands and Brazil in the global Bible business market.
According to Liu, Bible printing accounts for 50 percent of the factory's capacity and made up 80 percent of annual sales last year, when its sales revenue reached 264 million yuan in 2012 with a 6.6 percent year-on-year growth. The company has set a 10 percent profit growth target for next year.
Although Liu said he expected the Bible export market to continually increase, it may face a tough challenge with rising labor costs and appreciation of the yuan.
Full story at: http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/826413.shtml#.Uo0N88RmhcY
