The Ezhou Huahu Airport in central China's Hubei Province, China's first cargo-focused airport, launched its 100th cargo route on Sunday, linking China, the U.S. and Canada.
A cargo aircraft operated by SF Express landed at the airport on Sunday afternoon, after flying from New York in the United States via Halifax, Canada. This newly opened route is the airport's first Canadian route.
"China and the U.S already have established freight exchanges. Leveraging the fifth freedom rights, we can now fly from the U.S. to Canada, and bring Canadian fresh and aquatic products back to China," said He Fei, Deputy General Manager of the Hub Development Department under Hubei International Logistics Airport Co.
The main outbound cargoes on this route include garments, electronic products, and electromechanical equipment, while inbound shipments primarily consist of machinery, health products, and fresh seafood.
The route is expected to provide more than 100 tons of weekly air capacity for Canadian seafood exports to China.
This year, Huahu Airport has established forward cargo stations in provinces such as Jiangsu and Guangdong. It will soon open overseas warehouses in locations including Hong Kong and Milan, Italy. These efforts aim to integrate air logistics with cross-border e-commerce.
China's first cargo-focused airport launches 100th route, connecting US, Canada
China's 3D printing industry is moving out of laboratories into more widespread industrial production and consumer markets, driven by technological advancements, an expanding field of applications and a growing demand for exports of practically-sized high-tech printers.
As the sector enters a new phase of rapid development, Chinese companies have been developing a new range of world-leading products and China now holds an approximately 90 percent share of the global consumer-grade 3D printing market.
Since the beginning of this year, a more functional series of consumer-grade 3D printers, which are now roughly the size of a microwave oven, have gained strong popularity due to their affordability and ease of use.
These desktop devices, which allow users to print their own unique designs in just a few simple steps, are rapidly gaining traction among overseas hobbyists, small workshop owners, and in educational settings.
At the same time, with remarkable improvements in printing efficiency, material performance, and equipment stability, the number of application scenarios for Chinese-made 3D printers continues to grow.
In the medical field, 3D printing is being used to produce highly customized products such as surgical tools as well as dental restorations, orthopedic implants, and hearing aids, making a considerable difference to patients.
In the aerospace sector, complex internal structures such as heat exchangers and injectors that are often deemed complex to produce through traditional manufacturing methods can now be printed directly as a single piece, resulting in higher efficiency, lighter components, and better performance.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China released in May showed that in the first four months of 2026, China's 3D printer production increased by more than 50 percent year-on-year, while export volumes more than doubled compared to the same period last year.
Industry insiders say that amid other tech advances, the potential scope for 3D printing technology to be adopted is also widening.
"Applications in biomedicine, new energy vehicles, and high-end molds continue to expand. Looking ahead, with sustained breakthroughs in technology, cost reduction, and efficiency gains, the industry's total output is gradually moving toward the 100-billion-yuan mark (over 14.7 billion U.S. dollars)," said Li Fangzheng, head of the Equipment Industry Development Center under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
China's high-tech 3D printers see expanding applications, capture 90 pct of global market share
