The term vacuum, translated from Latin vacuo, means nothing. In fact, vacuum should be understood as a space with thinner gas. In the designated space, the gas state below one atmospheric pressure is called vacuum. The degree of gas rarefaction under vacuum is called degree of vacuum, which is usually expressed by pressure value. Therefore, vacuum packaging is not completely vacuum in fact, and the vacuum degree in food containers packed with vacuum packaging technology is usually 600-1333Pa. Therefore, vacuum packaging is also called vacuum packaging or exhaust packaging.

Vacuum packaging technology originated in the 1940s. In 1950, polyester and polyethylene plastic films were successfully used in vacuum packaging. Since then, vacuum packaging has developed rapidly.

The vacuum packaging technology in China was developed in the early 1980s, while the vacuum inflatable packaging technology began to be used in a small amount in the early 1990s. With the promotion and development of small packaging, its scope of application is becoming wider and wider, and some will gradually replace hard packaging. The prospect is very promising

From the 1950s to the mid-1980s, di was a development period, which began with the manufacture of simple exhausters. At that time, there were less than 20 enterprises producing vacuum equipment nationwide, and the products were mainly low-grade vacuum equipment, such as mirror coating machine, cigarette packaging machine, etc. From the late 1980s to the entire 1990s is the second period of China's vacuum industry development. During this period, the number of manufacturing enterprises increased to nearly 3000, with 35000 employees. The overall level of the entire vacuum industry has been greatly improved after the technical transformation of the "Seventh Five Year Plan" and the "Eighth Five Year Plan". In terms of processing conditions, CNC machine tools for machining centers, resin sand castings and other production equipment have started to equip enterprises. By 1996, the vacuum industry had developed rapidly due to the pull of magnesium smelting industry.