In 2008, China published a total of more than 270,000 titles of books with a growth of 11%. Sales value achieved 55 billion RMB, up 17.9% over last year.

In 2008, China published a total of more than 270,000 titles of books with a growth of 11%. Sales value achieved 55 billion RMB, up 17.9% over last year.

   According to the 2008 Report on the Basic Nationwide Conditions of the Press and Publications Industry, released by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), there were 579 publishing houses in China, which consisted of 220 central publishing houses and 359 provincial companies. One new provincial publishing house was launched in 2008.

   The report showed that, China's book publishing industry sustained steady growth last year, despite the financial crisis. Nationwide, there were about 160,000 publication outlets, 670,000 persons working in the publishing distribution industry, and 6,290 publication printing enterprises.

Book Publishing: Reflecting Social Hot Topics

   In 2008, China published 275,668 titles, and the titles in culture, science, education and sports-related books performed the best. Among the highest margins of growth, environmental sciences, aerospace, and agricultural sciences respectively ranked 1-3, which reflected the Chinese publishing industry's response to  books about the Sichuan Earthquake in May 2008, the interest in space following  China's first spacewalk last fall, the launch of a nationwide, State-funded agricultural publishing program and other social hot spots.

   In 2008, China publishers produced 149,988 frontlist titles as well as 125,680 reprinted editions. The total number of books printed was 6.936 billion copies. Compared to 2007, new titles increased by 10.1%, and reprinted editions in 2008 increased by 12.16%.

   The substantial increase in reprinted titles was one of the most significant and exciting changes for the publishing industry in 2008. In addition, reprinted editions accounted for 46% of the total title output in 2008, the highest level in nearly 30 years. In the past year, the increase of book prices caused by the increases of paper price was particularly obvious. This year, paper prices have decreased, and it is presumed that the book prices will be reduced to a  certain degree. (See Table 1)

Table 1: Comparison of Published Books Amount in 2007 and 2008

• Textbooks Publishing: Recycled and Free Educational Material Distribution Take Noticeable Effect

   In 2008, a total of 55,853 textbook titles and a corresponding 3,302 billion total copies were published. Compared to the the previous year, the number of textbook titles increased by 3.44%, and the number of copies decreased by 0.66%. Beginning in 2008, most provinces began to promote recycled use of teaching materials and some local governments have begun to procure teaching materials and distribute them free of charge. These two measures greatly influenced the publishing of teaching materials in 2008, and accounted for the decreases in the number of book titles.

   Some exceptions include textbooks for the junior college level and above, as well as for continuing education. The growth of published titles in these subsectors coincides with some insiders' evaluation that individual education and higher-level technical education have become crucial developmental channels for the textbook publishing sector.

• Publishing of Children's Books: Continues to Maintain Upward Trend

   In 2007, the downward output in children's books of 2006 was reversed. In 2008, the growth momentum was maintained, and was faster and stronger than in 2007.

   A total of 13,522 titles of children's books (including 7,441 new titles) and 333.15 million copies were published, and the total sales reached 3.3 billion RMB (US$468 million). Compared with the situation over the previous year, the number of titles increased by 29.27% (with new titles increasing by 21.55%), and the number of published copies increased by 36.29%, the total sales increased by 34.71%.

   In 2008, when the prices of all titles of books increased faster than those in 2007, increases in the set price of children's books slowed down. This also demonstrated the beneficial outcome of children's book publishers' strategy of maintaining relatively low shelf prices and high output.

Distribution Outlets: The Total Number Decreased

   The books sold in the Xinhua Bookstore system and the issuing units established by publishing houses created a value of 145.6 billion RMB (US$ 207.7 billion), an increase of 6.5% over last year.

   In 2008, there were 161,256 total publications distribution outlets nationwide, a reduction of 3.59% compared to  the previous year. An interesting phenomenon in 2007 was that the number of state-owned distribution outlets decreased, while the number of private distribution outlets increased. However, because of various increases in cost, private distribution outlets also slowed the pace of their development. The outlets for private wholesale sector decreased by 8.27% in 2008.

   Another noteworthy finding in 2008 was that the number of private wholesale outlets decreased while the number of employees increased. Such changes explain the slower expansion of the private wholesale sector, but management has improved.

International Trade

• Books Import and Export: Literature and Fine Arts Past Their Prime

   In 2008, the number of books export was 6,534,200 copies, amounting to US$31.3 million, a decrease of 8.50% and 5.09% respectively from the previous year. As a result of the financial crisis, as well as the appreciation of RMB, both the number and the value of books export declined in 2008.

   In 2007, literature and fine arts-related books became the greatest winner within the export market, accounting for 22.91% of the total export amount. However, books about life-style accounted for 40.79% of the total in 2008, forcing literature and fine arts into second place. The exports of nature, science & technology, and children's books declined, especially in the genres of nature. And science & technology books showed significant decline, from 10.82% in 2007 to only 5.20% in 2008.

   In 2008, the number of imported books was 4,376,500 copies, amounting to US$81,55 million, a 19.46% increase in volume, and a 4.38% increase in value over 2007 figures. As a result of the appreciation of the RMB, the value of book imports declined. The growth rate of book imports value in 2008 was only 4.38%, while that in 2007 was 80.67%.

• Copyright Import: Macau and Taiwan Making Their Mark

   In 2008, Chinese publishers imported 16,969 copyrights, including 15,776  books and 117 electronic publications. Imports from Macau were brought into the statistical data for the first time. Although there were only four titles exported from Macau to the mainland, it represents a major breakthrough.

   The interaction in the publishing industry of the Mainland and Taiwan has become increasingly active. Because of improved cross-straits relations, 6,040 titles from Taiwan were imported by the Mainland in 2008 and Taiwan ranked the first in terms of the number of titles imported by the Mainland, a seven-fold increase over 2007. The United States fell from the first in 2007 to the second. Singapore, Japan, and South Korea still maintained high imported title rates.

• Copyright Export: Brilliance Returns to Germany

   In 2008, a total of 2,455 copyrights were sold to foreign publishers, which included 2,440 books. In the terms of copyright export, the Mainland exported 603 titles of books to Taiwan which ranked the first, with South Korea and Hong Kong ranking the second and the third.

   In 2007, there were seven regions where the number of copyright exports declined, and the situation remained the same in 2008, although the regions were not exactly the same. The 2007 list included Germany, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. In 2008, it was the United States, Britain, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and other regions.

   This year, China is the Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair. That made Germany a major copyright exporter in 2008. In 2007, Germany was the "Waterloo" for Chinese copyright exports, plummeting from importing 104 Chinese copyrights in 2006 to only 14 that year, but the 2008 level saw 96 copyright exports to Germany. Unfortunately, Britain became the region where the copyright export declined most significantly in 2008. The number of titles fell from 109 to 45, a decrease of more than 50%. (See Table 2)

Table 2：China Copyright Export and Import Statistics in 2007 and 2008