The Development of Newsprint

Globally, newsprint accounts for the largest share of paper consumption. As newspaper printing has evolved from letterpress to offset lithography, paper raw materials have transitioned from conventional groundwood pulp (mechanical wood pulp) to thermomechanical pulp and chemically treated thermomechanical pulp. Sugarcane bagasse pulp production is increasingly developing in China's southern sugar-producing regions. Newsprint also leads in paper machine speed and web width: speeds exceeding 1000 meters per minute are commonplace, with web widths typically ranging from 6 to 8 meters. with peak speeds reaching 1,500 meters per minute and widths around 10 meters. Internationally, newsprint basis weight varies according to printing requirements: offset newsprint typically weighs 40 g/m², while rotogravure newsprint is approximately 50 g/m². China's traditional basis weight for rotary letterpress newsprint is 51–52 g/m², with a trend toward lower weights and development of 48 g/m² specifications. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, large paper mills were successively expanded and newly constructed in northeastern and southern provinces, bringing newsprint supply and demand closer to equilibrium. (2) Refers to formally typeset newspapers, known in English as “newspaper.” This term emerged in the early 17th century and is synonymous with the modern Chinese translation “bāozì”