By the third day of the Beijing International Book Fair, which ran June 19–23, overseas exhibitors, some of whom had not been back for the past five or six years, were breathing a bit easier. Packed booths and crowded exhibition halls bode well.
The exhibitors that PW spoke with did find the Chinese book business tough during the pandemic years with the prolonged lockdown resulting in a slower-than-expected market recovery. Chinese publishers, they said, have become very cautious and even more selective than ever in buying titles for their publishing programs.
According to OpenBook, the Beijing-based clearinghouse for publishing statistics, the Chinese retail book market grew 4.72% in 2023—a welcome increase after a decline in 2022. However, the first five months of 2024 showed an 8% decline compared to the same period a year ago. From a channel perspective, bricks-and-mortar stores accounted for about 12% of the total book sales in China while sales from e-commerce platforms represented a huge chunk of well over 40%. Short-video channels took up 26%. By and large, children’s books are less affected by the heavy discounting practiced by online platforms. The children’s book segment still occupies the biggest chunk of the market, at around 25%, with pop science, children’s literature, and picture books being the main categories.
Nancy Traversy, cofounder and CEO of Barefoot Books, did not know what to expect prior to her arrival in Beijing after a six-year hiatus. “Now I can say that the market continues to be receptive to our titles and this fair is great. Visitors gravitated towards two series in particular: washable Barefoot Baby-Proof Books and Our World titles on global culture,” Traversy said, adding that her biggest title in China is Nick Crane’s Barefoot Books World Atlas, which has sold hundreds of thousands of copies. “English-language learning titles are still in demand and I see educators and parents dropping by wanting to purchase titles right off the shelves, which we don’t do here. Titles on mindfulness and social-emotional learning are getting trendy.”
The popularity of the short-video e-commerce channel has thoroughly changed the Chinese book market, said Nosy Crow managing director Kate Wilson. “Apps such as TikTok and Xiaohongshu are competing with one another and exerting high pressure on book prices. The heavy discounting practice to drive up sales volume will have an adverse impact on the perceived value of the book, which is not good for the overall industry. And to fit this short-video trend, publishers also prefer series or multiple titles instead of selling or promoting one big book.”
Wilson’s new STEAM titles, developed in partnership with the University of Cambridge, are in high demand, mostly due to brand recognition. “I have shown There’s No Such Thing as a Silly Question the most at this fair; visitors want quirky yet fact-based stuff. Then there is the focus on mental health and topics such as anxiety and bullying, which is aligned with parental concerns elsewhere.”
With 45 appointments fixed prior to her arrival in Beijing, foreign and digital sales director Pinelopi Pourpoutidou of London-based Michael O’Mara Books was ecstatic about BIBF. “It’s a great fair that exceeded way beyond my expectation. I’m happy to be back, and this new venue, which is nearer to the city center, is so much nicer and more accessible.”
Pourpoutidou reported that Chinese children’s book publishers “are creating more originals and not buying as much as in the past. They have a more definite idea on what they want and know what the market looks for, and at this fair, around 30 publishers have zoomed in on Mike Barfield’s Planet Earth: My Life So Far.” Pre-BIBF, she said, “My team has already sold Maggie Aderin-Pocock’s Webb’s Universe. I’m seeing a demand for comic-style nonfiction that offers fun and humor and promotes creative thinking with none of the dry encyclopedia stuff. With the birthrate dropping, Chinese publishers are looking at titles for ages 10 and above, and they tend to go more for science.”
For Ben Wright, international sales director at HarperCollins (U.K.), his first BIBF visit was about getting a sense of the marketplace. “People are starting to go back to the bookstores and children’s books continue to represent a huge chunk of the industry. China remains a price-sensitive market with unique ways of direct-to-market selling, especially through influencers and livestreamers,” he said. At the booth, Minecraft titles, the Narwhal and Jelly Book series, and Tahereh Mafi’s Unravel Me were popular with visitors. “Our preschool titles remain strong but classics are our biggest sellers. This market continues to favor STEM titles and there is a demand for younger fiction.”
At Cornwall, U.K.-based Hungry Tomato, one colorfully illustrated nonfiction series targeted at ages six to nine won the popularity contest. “Big Questions Answered is about getting children interested in science, which fits perfectly with the goal of Chinese parents and educators,” said publisher John Twiggs, adding that each title—Are Bees Nature’s Tiny Heroes?, Can Snakes Predict Earthquakes?, Can Trees Talk to Each Other?, for instance—is accompanied by an activity pack and resources for teachers and parents. “I have already received offers from three Chinese publishers and will hold a rights auction next month.”
A first-time BIBF exhibitor, Twiggs has been doing business in China for the past nine years with a big portion of his catalog already licensed to Chinese publishers. “I will definitely be back next year. One needs to be here in-person to build long-term relationships and get a sense of this fast-changing marketplace,” he said.
Chinese publishers are paying closer attention than before to the topics covered within a title, and they have an obvious preference for educational nonfiction, especially STEM subjects, said Laura Accomazzo, general manager of Swiss publisher NuiNui. “Our complex pop-ups, especially on the solar system and Leonardo da Vinci, have sold very well here, in part due to the popularity of anything astronomy and China’s ongoing Lunar Exploration Program.” For Accomazzo, the new BIBF venue with exhibition halls spread out on different levels gave her an immediate sense of the scale of the Chinese book market. “The number of people and companies involved in the industry is huge, and so is the potential business. We cannot miss this opportunity to be on the ground and be involved.”
The Chinese government’s July 2021 crackdown on after-school tutoring services that makes it illegal to teach core curriculum subjects—Chinese, English, and mathematics, for instance—has affected companies such as Highlights and its sales of English-language learning materials.
“But this has given us the opportunity to reevaluate and revise our business strategy,” said Highlights director of global content Sarah Hooks, who is looking beyond exports and rights sales. “We are leveraging the Highlights brand, which has always been recognized in China for quality content, and are talking to potential partners at this fair on, say, franchising and preschool curriculum development. At the same time, we are repurposing and tailoring our content to better fit the Chinese market demand.”
The Chinese children’s book market was particularly bad last year, said Philippe Werck of Belgium-based Clavis. “It is so much better this year and we decided to participate in the BIBF Picture Book Fair, which is open to the public. Overall, our direct sales of English books in China have been good and so our four-person vlogging team is here, selling between 1,000 and 1,500 copies per day right from our booth.” Bill Wise’s new titles The Fence Problem and The Clock Problem were popular with visitors, as was the new Band-Aid series, which focuses on mental health issues such as addiction and depression.
“While there are many digital reading apps and platforms in China, I don’t see these affecting sales of children’s books,” Werck said. “Parents and educators still prefer print books for their children. Having said that, I’m looking to promote the ClavisGo app, which scans and reads aloud pages of our titles, including those in Belgian editions, in English.” He is actively seeking a local partner to promote the app.
At U.K.-based Marco Rodino Agency, international rights manager Camille Morard said that chapter books, fiction series, and nonfiction graphic novels continue to sell in China. “Publishers are also looking at backlists, including books that were published here before and didn’t do well. Of course, they prefer big-name authors and award-winning books. Science titles remain strong but the market is crowded with such offerings, and so publishers are searching for titles with strong visuals and unique content in order to stand out on the shelves.”
The 2025 BIBF is scheduled to run from June 18 to 22.
