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Chinese book market up 14.4% in 2019; online retailers capture 70% of sales

China’s retail book market in 2019 grew at a rate of 14.4% on the previous year, reports Publishing Perspectives.

According to data from Chinese industry-data research firm OpenBook, the total Chinese book market in 2019 was valued at 102.27 billion yuan (A$21.68 bn), although the data is based on units sold at list price and excludes discounted pricing.

Sales tracked through online retail channels grew by 24.9% on the previous year to reach a total of 71.51 billion yuan (A$15.16 bn), with online channels now capturing 70% of the total market’s retail sales. Physical retail shops experienced a small decline of 4.24%, and were worth a total of 30.76 billion yuan (A$6.54 bn) in 2019.

The total number of Chinese-published titles in 2019 fell by 6.7% from the previous year, to 194,000 titles, with OpenBook assessing this decline in local publishing as a shift in focus from high quantity to higher quality. However, the average price of a book increased from 40 yuan in 2018 (A$8.47) to 45 yuan (A$9.53) in 2019.

 

Category: International news