They have suddenly become buzzwords in China, catching the attention of a curious public, but for museums and archeologists 3-D printing technology has been fueling a boom in duplicating and restoring ancient relics with the highest degree of accuracy.

Reproductions of two clay Buddhas from the Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO world heritage site in Gansu province, were presented at last month's China International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. The 0.6-meter-high statues were created by using 3-D prints.

Additive printing, or 3-D printing, is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. 3-D printing is achieved using an additive process, where successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes.