The sales were mostly (if not exclusively) for sheetfed equipment, but KBA says it did so well at China Print, the year may turn out to be a record there. The German press maker took a 900 m2 stand – bigger than it has booked for Ipex – and sold 20 presses covering practically the whole of its sheetfed range, including the Rapida 75, which made its Asian market debut after a DRUPA launch. The first quarter of the year has KBA China returning record sales in defiance of international trends, but additional sales booked at the show could make 2009 its most successful year ever. As deposits have been received for the majority of those orders, KBA says it is also confident that the presses will actually be delivered, contrary to the experiences of the branch in some other cases over the past few months. KBA says its reputation for high-performance technologies paired with maximum customer proximity, is the foundation for the success of its sheetfed and web presses on the Chinese market. More users are turning away from “anonymous run-of-the-mill products” and KBA has found China a welcome technology leader for the print industry.