Chinese market down 12% in 2022

Overall book sales in China decreased 12% in 2022 according to Beijing OpenBook, reports Publishing Perspectives.

While sales via short video ecommerce, such as on TikTok and other platforms, were up 43%, China’s ‘zero Covid’ policy meant strict lockdowns, leading to physical bookshop channels decreasing by 37%. Platform ecommerce sales were down 16% on 2021 figures, and other ecommerce channels were down 2.5%.

Sales in the literature and biography categories were both up in 2022, while the ‘study aid’ category took the biggest hit. Children’s books remain the largest category by sales overall.

‘The main driving force of the literary market comes from the Internet, including the popularity of “online literature” and online discussions and comments about related books, as well as in fiction highlighted on live-broadcast programs,’ such as The Last Quarter of the Moon, To Live, and Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out,’ said OpenBook.

New release titles dominated the sales generated by short-video channels; 43 new books accounted for more than half of sales in the channels, including many written by social media influencers, and titles sought out by young parents for educational purposes.

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