China’s People’s Daily has placed a sixth order with manroland web, this time for a six-tower Uniset press.

It will be the second in the country with the maker’s new ControlCenter operating system, launched at DRUPA 2012.

The newspaper – credited with being China’s most influential – produces more than 70 different editions totalling about five million broadsheet copies each day, equivalent to 18.25 billion copies a year.

At a signing ceremony last month, secretary general of People´s Daily Yan Xiaoming said all their manroland press installations had proved their worth during the last years: “We chose the Uniset mainly because of the German quality, the technological reliability, high standard and the outstanding productivity,” he said. “There is a proved, reliable and stable cooperation and friendship between our company and manroland web systems.”

manroland sales vice president Frank Tietsche emphasised a strategic relationship: “What is associated with this contract is an aspired new level of a strategic alliance with broad content.” 

The latest press will have six eight-couple towers, three folders, four balloon formers and seven reel splicers, and is designed to run at 80,000 cph. In addition to the ControlCenter – part of the maker’s One Touch philosophy – the press will also have SlidePads and one MobilPad, technology it says was an “important criterion” in the purchase decision. It will also have Iroloc automatic roller adjustment.

Single-width Uniset presses are installed at Guizhou Ribao, Sichuan Ribao and Anhui Ribao in China, and manroland claims a total of 136 in the country.

The new People’s Daily press will be installed at the end of this year in an all-new building (pictured) at their most recent printing site, where there are plans to relocate several existing presses.