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Question: when is a publisher not a publisher? Answer: when it’s a private Chinese publisher. In China, only state-owned publishers can officially publish books, but that hasn’t stopped a thriving private publishing sector of some 100,000 businesses from emerging in recent years. But we musn’t call them publishers. Officially, they’re ‘cultural companies’, ‘content providers’ or ‘literary agents’.
This doesn’t stop them producing an estimated 30,000 titles each year, or 15 per cent of China’s total book production, according to Zhiyong Jie, Rights Manager for Beijing BBT, a private publishing company attached to Guangxi Normal University Press.
Speaking at a forum today on independent Chinese publishing companies, Zhiyong Jie said that the private sector is now tolerated in China, partly because state-owned companies have failed to respond to the demands of the market and partly because private publishers have been so successful. Now, about 50 per cent of the books on China’s bestseller charts now come from the private sector.
There are still some hurdles to overcome. Officially, private publishers cannot obtain ISBNs, and so have to buy them from state-owned under partnership arrangements.
‘I am a private publisher in China and without a partnership with a state-owned publishing company I can’t publish’, noted another speaker, Ram Yang.
‘As long as no political lines are crossed, this cooperation between the public and private sector is welcomed’, said Zhiyong Jie, who was also optimistic that the Chinese book market would one day become completely open.
Interestingly, the internet is also playing a part in the development of China’s book market, in spite of a recent survey that indicated that 50 per cent of readers were reading less in print and more online. It’s become a useful way of bringing authors and publishers together. Speaker Ram Yang said that five years ago, only 20 per cent of writers on the bestseller lists were new writers, whereas now it was closer to 60 per cent. Would-be authors were posting content online and publishers were finding them. Ram Yang also said independent publishers were leading the way with web-based promotion of books.
If you’re looking to find our more about this fascinating sector, visiting the Chinese Independent Publishing Companies exhibit at Hall 6.0 D 934.
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