Farsoon High-tech sees huge growth ahead in 3D printing

There is something different about a number of small structures that just went up in Changsha. Unlike traditional industrial mold-manufacturing, they were put together using selective laser sintering and melting - better known as 3D printing technology.

Hunan Farsoon High-tech Co Ltd is China's biggest privately-owned manufacturer of selective laser sintering machines, by both domestic and global market share. It has pledged to invest 80 million yuan ($11.7 million) in research and development each year to further compete with those established foreign rivals, such as the United States-based Stratasys or 3D Systems.

The technology of 3-D printing, which originated in the 1980s in the US, uses a system known as additive manufacturing, which refers to processes used to synthesize a three-dimensional object in which successive layers of material are formed under computer control to create an object.