Peggy Yu Yu whose company has the largest Chinese-language online bookstore outlined the state of the Chinese book market and pointed to certain opportunities for international companies. Total book sales in China are estimated at $4.8 billion, 60% of which are texts. There are 565 state-owned houses and some 10,000 private publishers, a number that continues to grow. Publishing is highly profitable although cyclical, with growth ranging from 5%-50% a year, and averaging more than 10%. (Oddly one strong source of evenue for the state houses is the sale of ISBNs to the private publishers.)
While Xinhua was the only bookstore company before the reforms of the 1980s, there are now some 77,000 bookstores in China, 12,000 of them state-supported. Wholesalers have comparable diverse numbers, with some 30 state wholesalers and more than 1000 private ones. The largest wholesaler has just 9% of the market.
Yu Yu said that while there are limits on foreign ownership of bookstores -- which are "loosening up," however -- there are opportunities for international book retailers in China, which d s not have the kind of superstores that are so popular in the U.S. Likewise, any international wholesalers who set up shop in China could probably take a good part of the pie.
