Professor Tan Junqiao wins 2017 R. Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award

Professor Tan Junqiao, founder and honorary chairman of the China Label Sub Association of the Printing Equipment Industries Association of China (PEIAC), has been chosen as the recipient of the R. Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award, to be presented at the 2017 Label Industry Global Awards during Labelexpo Europe 2017.

Professor Tan, the first Chinese winner of this prestigious award, is highly regarded and respected as the true founder and motivator of China’s label and packaging printing industries

Sponsored by Avery Dennison, the R. Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual who has made a 'substantial and key contribution' to the promotion and growth of the label industry over a minimum of 25 years. Professor Tan, the first Chinese winner of this award, is highly regarded and respected as the founder and motivator of China’s label and packaging printing industries, having spent 36 years in both starting and helping build the country’s industry, including initializing the industry’s development, promoting China’s printing technology innovations, defining production standards, organizing and participating in events, improving government policies and through enterprise development. Described as instrumental in promoting and introducing flexo printing into China, which involved convincing government agencies to reduce import taxes on flexo presses and, more recently, digital presses, Professor Tan has also provided consulting advice to many global label converter and supplier companies entering China, helping them to define business development strategies, establish manufacturing locations and set-up subsidiaries or joint ventures.

Mike Fairley, chair of the judging panel, which convened at the recent Finat European Label Forum in Berlin, Germany, explained: ‘Professor Tan was the standout choice for this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, with multiple recommendations from around the world. His passion and dedication over many years to promoting the development of a modern label printing industry in his country have led to him being widely acclaimed as the true pioneer and founding father of the Chinese label industry. We look forward to honoring Professor Tan and the other winners in person at the awards ceremony in September.’

Previous R. Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award recipients include Suzanne Zaccone of GSI Technologies, Tomas Rink of Ritrama, RotoMetric’s Steve Lee, Helmut Schreiner, Nilpeter’s Lars Eriksen, Kurt Walker of Finat and FLEXcon’s Neil McDonough.

Three other prizes will be award at the 2017 Label Industry Global Awards, with the finalists detailed here.

Read a Q&A with PEIAC, including comments from Professor Tan Junqiao, in L&L issue 6, 2016 and here