Children’s books publishing trends in China
“Twenty years ago, China was an economic backwater, closed to the outside world. Its economy was riddled with inefficiency, dominated by collective farms in agriculture and Soviet-style central planning in industry. Since reform began, China has been the world's fastest growing major economy, with growth at just under 10 per cent a year on average, and today it is the world's seventh largest economy. With such rapid growth China will be a leading economic superpower in the twenty-first century.
“China has one of the largest book industries in the world. In 1996 it produced 60,000 new titles with sales of around 1.5 billion at publishers' prices. The principal characteristic of the Chinese publishing industry is that it is state owned and state controlled for ideological reasons, but at the same time seeks the benefits of a market economy as government funding is reduced.” [1]
“The retail market for imported copies is obviously very limited. However, there do seem to be customers for color illustrated art/design/fashion books, and the one child policy means that children's books can sell at surprisingly high prices to parents of "little emperors". Reference books, English language learning material (especially if accompanied by audio or video tapes), computer and business titles are also sold to individual purchasers.” [1]
The Purpose of Publishing
“In China the socialist government asks: Is the purpose of publishing to make profit for publishers and authors or to educate, entertain and inform the maximum number of readers? The basic underlying question is not just freedom to publish, but also the role of government in publishing.” [1]
“In terms of distribution the Chinese want to do it better. In terms of freedom to publish they want to do it on their own terms. There is no hint that private ownership of publishing will be permitted in the foreseeable future, and, as a result, the Chinese book publishing industry, because of ideological restrictions, is playing a lesser role than it should in the booming Chinese economy.” [1]
Chinese Children’s Publishers
“Since the introduction of the new policy of openness, China's specialist children's publishing houses have increased from two to thirty, the staff employed in children's publishing have gone from 200 to more than 3000.” [2]
“Writers and illustrators of children's literature have also increased from about 200 to more than 3000. Nowadays, 523 of the 569 publishers in China are competing to publish children's literature.” [2] While there are 15 imports for every one export in China, most of the imports are from other Asian countries. Very little of what is brought in are translations of Western novels, though these are still popular among children. [3]
Examples of what some Children’s Publishers have been doing:
“The Juvenile and Children Publishing House in Shanghai has a modern 16-track recording studio in-house as well as a new contract with Disney in Hong Kong and Dorling Kindersley in the U.K.” [4]
“‘We are not finding it easy,’ Whale admits, after several years working with the Chinese. ‘China won't be a significant market for some time to come, but there are 350 million children below the age of 15, so the market is indescribably large. I just don't think the evolution of publishing has met that challenge yet. What we are reacting to is too much too soon in expectations.’ ” [4]
“Shanghai Educational Publishing House negotiated several New Era translations at Frankfurt last year.” [4]
“Shanghai Juvenile's Zhon says that illustrated works in sets have the best international potential, and it has several, including favorite children's stories, colorfully illustrated, one for each evening of the year.” [4]
“Beijing Children & Juvenile Publishing House, which is part of the giant Beijing Publishing House, operates with a similar philosophy and also signed a contract for some Disney titles last year. They are also negotiating for the children's series NiGHTS with Random House U.K. through Big Apple Tuttle-Mori.” [4]
“China Children Publishing House is the Government's central-level publishing house for children, and one of the largest, with 200 new titles a year for ages ranging from two to 15.” [4]
“China Children has translated some of the classics: Dickens, Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and produced them in illustrated editions.” However, book production costs are increasing rapidly. [4]
Looking at the Present and Focusing on the Future of Chinese Children’s Publishing
“China’s Children’s literature publishing is quickly merging into the mainstream of international children’s publishing.” [2] Government support has allowed China to compete in Children’s publishing, but to the point of market saturation. It is not enough to focus locally. In order to combat this, they have adopted an open policy to foreign investors of domestic publishers. “Foreign publishers are not allowed to operate independently in China, but there is a limited possibility to enter into publishing joint ventures.” [1]
Features of Children’s Publishing in China
First, great attention is given to the national interest, that is, more than 800 titles dealing with patriotism published each year. Second, originality in children’s literature. More than a thousand original titles were published over a five-year period. Third, popular science literature has increased, including the importation of science literature rights. Fourth, new models of books are explored, such as novelty books, video cartoon books, and books which combine paper and electronic materials. Lastly, a large number of foreign children’s books have been imported. Examples of these are The Adventures of Tintin, the Harry Potter series, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and Hello! Is Anybody There?
All of these books have become bestsellers in China. More than 7.8% of the children's literature in China is imported. [2]
More and more Children’s publishers have been cooperating with each other. For example, “the Hope Publishing House and the Petrel Publishing House of China joined…to explore books to complement the curriculum[. T]he 21st Century Publishing House and China Youth Press…founded the Oriental Lion Cub Culture Company to explore the youth market[. S]ome children's publishing houses have co-operated with art presses, integrating the literary advantages of the children's publishing houses with the illustrative advantages of art presses.” These collaborations have ended in positive results all around. [2]
Chinese Bookstores & Libraries
The atmosphere in the bookstores is as varied as the books that they contain. Some of the older problems remain, such as in Beijing and Shanghai. The largest store in Shanghai is cleaner, brighter, and more organized than it used to be, and has more translations of foreign works. However, the attitude of workers in some of the shops have not changed. They sound bored and uninterested when a customer tries to find assistance.
Similarly, a large foreign language bookstore in Beijing had dusty shelves, and staff that appears to be just standing around doing nothing. An excess of personnel is often a problem in state-owned institutions. These types of stores are not a reflection of all.
A bookstore owned by the Joint Publishing Company in Shanghai was bright and clean, with a knowledgeable staff. One of the best in the country is Feng ru Song (Wind and Pine). It is privately owned with a 20,000-title operation near Beijing University. [5]
Another impressive bookstore in Beijing is an eight-floor business, each floor being 2,000 square feet. It contains books on a wide variety of topics, and also sells school supplies and musical instruments. It is often packed on an ordinary weekday with people looking to buy. The most popular section by far is the section of books on how to learn to read and write the English language, a popular topic for young children. [3]
Libraries are also widely used in China. The largest in the National Library in Beijing and the second largest is the Shanghai Library. A new 78,000 square-meter public library opened November 6, 2006 with enough space to hold 12 million books. The building has services for visually challenged and young adults, and a newspaper reading room. The collection at this library is the third largest in the country. [6]
To continue to be a viable competitor in the world of publishing, China must increase its openness to the outside world. While government-funded institutions and publishers do work, privately owned businesses, for profit, are the ones that will survive, as one can see by the previous examples. Children’s publishing is a good market to invest in because the children of China are its future.
Works Cited:
1. Drury, R., Publishing in China: developments since 1992. Asian Libraries, 1998. Vol.7(Iss. 5): p. 111.
2. Hai, F., Paving a Road to the Azure Sky: The Present and Future of Chinese Children's Publishing. Bookbird, 2006. v.44(no.3): p. 79-85.
3. Nelson, S., From China, with Envy. Publisher's Weekly, 2006. v253(no.4): p. 13.
4. ___, Children's books: not ready for prime time. (Special Report: The Opening of China, Scaling the Heights of a Vast New Market). Publishers Weekly, 1993. v240(n39): p. S10(1).
5. Feldman, G., Interesting Times In China. Publisher's Weekly, 1997: p. 56-63.
6. ___, Global Reach. American Libraries, 2007. v38(no1): p. 24.