
Rights trading at Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair in 2016. Image: CCBF
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
China’s Young Bestsellers and a Children’s Book Fair
As we present our September bestseller lists from China, Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF) is well into preparations for its November 17-19 run. By the time we come to you with our next monthly round of these bestsellers, more than 350 exhibitors from 35 markets will have displayed more than 60,000 titles in 25,000 square meters at Shanghai World Expo Exhibition Center.
New exhibitors this year, organizers tell Publishing Perspectives, include Sweden’s Bonnier, Japan’s Tohan, and Penguin Random House, which apparently will be making its Shanghai debut this year.
Of special interest to those of us following plans for Canada’s Guest of Honor turn in at the 2020 Frankfurter Buchmesse is the fact that a new Canadian combined stand is coming in with 10 publishing companies and Livres Canada Books. In addition, the show, produced by Reed Exhibitions, is to include two Korean combined stands, one from the Korean Publishers Association and the other from the Korean Publication Industry Promotion Agency. Among agencies participating in the second of those pavilions are Miraen and the Shinwon Agency.

An entry in the Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair’s Golden Pinwheel competition in illustration, this is from Tehran-based artist Fatemeh for ‘The Lord of Masks.’ Image: CCBF
The fair’s annual Golden Pinwheel Award competition for young illustrators is now in its third year. This year’s entries—all of which must be suitable for use in children’s picture books, usually in groups of five per project—are on display in an online gallery.
Shanghai also includes rights trading as part of its professional program, and is said by its organizers to be the only Asian-Pacific fair fully devoted to the children’s publishing sector. Its Friday (November 17) conference is a daylong program with an extensive lineup of key sessions, including rights-trading instruction and discussions of children’s digital reading, translation, marketing, and more.
And as kids get ready to go to CCBF, we turn to our latest bestseller charts for adult titles, made possible by China’s OpenBook and the US-based Trajectory—our exclusive presentation of their OpenBook-Trajectory China bestseller lists—which turn out to include some chart-topping young writers’ efforts.

At the entrance to the 2016 iteration of the Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair. Image: CCBF
New Bestseller Charts
Trajectory and OpenBook have provided us with the bestseller charts for the month of September, and you’ll find explanatory notes about these charts after the fourth (of four) charts below. With the help of our Trajectory colleague Yu Dan, we’ll share several points of analysis among the charts.
OpenBook’s Overall Fiction Bestsellers in China, September 2017

‘Journey to the West’ by Wu Cheng’en, in the People’s Literature Publishing House edition
As in many parts of the West, September is a back-t0-school time in China, so literary classics rise easily to the tops of the charts.
This is the case, for example, for the sudden appearance of Wu Cheng’en’s Journey to the West on the fiction chart in no fewer than five of 30 top positions. How does this happen? These are five different editions, each from a distinct publishing house.

From the runaway hit twin-brother writing duo Yuan Ziwen and Zihao comes a fifth title, ‘Sorry, I’m Also New as an Adult’
Also note two titles by twin writers, the brothers Yuan, Ziewen and Zihao.
We’re given to understand that these authors are hailed in Chinese media as Peking University’s “most handsome” and “most inspirational” twins, and their books are about “the beautiful confusion of youth.” The sweetly titled Sorry, I’m Also New as an Adult is the newest of their five titles, released in August by China Friendship Publishing Company.
Each of these two fraternal authors is followed by more than two million fans on Weibo and have been wowing their readers on book-signing tours to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and other stops.
Their earlier hit, Journey Under the Midnight Sun, is also a ubiquitous entry on our monthly charts.
Another young author making the rounds of bookstores is Zhang Haochen, whose hit title is A Matter of Love from Tianjin People’s Publishing House.
August 2017 | September 2017 | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Chinese Publisher |
Not Ranked | 12 | 9787807619079 | Jul-12 | Journey to the West | Wu Cheng’en | YUELU Publishing House |
11 | 21 | 9787559603340 | May-17 | Home of the Sleeping Mermaid | Higashino Keigo | Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd. |
Not Ranked | 14 | 9787556232239 | Aug-17 | Douluo Continent III: Legend of the Dragon King (18) | Tang Jia San Shao | Hunan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 13 | 9787556232222 | Sep-17 | Douluo Continent III: Legend of the Dragon King (19) | Tang Jia San Shao | Hunan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 15 | 9787553806310 | Aug-16 | Journey to the West | Wu Cheng’en, Cao Can, Guo Yingde | YUELU Publishing House |
6 | 9 | 9787550013247 | May-15 | Ferryman | Claire McFall | Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 26 | 9787544762519 | Dec-16 | How the Steel Was Tempered | Nikolai Ostrovsky | Yilin Press |
Not Ranked | 19 | 9787544711678 | Jun-10 | A Sportsman’s Sketches | Ivan Turgenev | Yilin Press |
Not Ranked | 5 | 9787544545501 | Dec-16 | Journey to the West | Wu Cheng’en | Changchun Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 28 | 9787544291163 | Aug-17 | Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Version) | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
17 | 29 | 9787544285148 | Oct-16 | Malice | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
1 | 1 | 9787544270878 | Apr-14 | Miracles of the Namiya General Store | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
5 | 7 | 9787544267618 | Jun-14 | The Devotion of Suspect X | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
2 | 4 | 9787544258609 | Jan-13 | Journey Under the Midnight Sun | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
7 | 17 | 9787544253994 | May-11 | One Hundred Years of Solitude | Gabriel Garc’a M’rquez | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
Not Ranked | 16 | 9787544246279 | Apr-10 | Rickshaw Boy | Lao She | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
15 | 27 | 9787540455958 | Jun-12 | The Shadow Thief | Marc Levy | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
13 | 22 | 9787536692930 | Jan-08 | The Three-Body Problem | Liu Cixin | Chongqing Publishing House |
24 | 10 | 9787530216781 | Jun-17 | Ordinary Word (3 Volumns) | Lu Yao | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
9 | 11 | 9787530215593 | Jun-17 | To Live | Yu hua | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 24 | 9787530209455 | Aug-08 | Border Town | Shen Congwen | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
12 | 18 | 9787506365437 | Jun-10 | To Live | Yu hua | The Writer’s Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 20 | 9787505741522 | Aug-17 | Sorry, I’m Also New as an Adult | Yuan Ziwen, Yuan Zihao | China Friendship Publishing Company |
10 | 6 | 9787500601593 | Aug-05 | Red Crag | Luo Guangbin, Yang Yiyan | China Youth Press |
4 | 3 | 9787208061644 | Apr-06 | The Kite Runner | Khaled Hosseini | Shanghai People’s Publishing House |
3 | 8 | 9787201120713 | Jul-17 | A Matter of Love | Zhang Haochen | Tianjin People’s Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 23 | 9787100119696 | Jun-16 | Journey to the West | Wu Cheng’en | The Commercial Press Co.Ltd |
14 | 25 | 9787020090006 | Jul-12 | Fortress Besieged | Qian Zhongshu | People’s Literature Publishing House |
22 | 2 | 9787020008735 | Jul-98 | Journey to the West | Wu Cheng’en | People’s Literature Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 30 | 9787020002207 | Jul-98 | Dream of the Red Chamber | Cao Xueqin | People’s Literature Publishing House |
OpenBook’s Overall Nonfiction Bestsellers in China, September 2017

Da Bing’s ‘I Won’t’ is one of several of the author’s titles on education department recommendation lists this season in China
Nonfiction is heavily influenced in September by back-to-school dynamics, as well, we’re told, with yet another young writer, Da Bing, holding down three spots with I Won’t, Take It Easy, and May You–all from Hunan Literature and Art Press–courtesy of their listings on education department recommendation lists.
Da Bing’s books are loved for their stories of kindness, the messaging being about showing a benevolent energy, being gentle with oneself and with others. The author hosts shows on Shan Dong television, has a background as a folk singer, bartender, drummer, and backpacker, and projects an ethos of humanism. His books’ stories are called “heart-warming” by our interpretors of the lists.
August 2017 | September 2017 | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Chinese Publisher |
4 | 10 | 9787550263932 | Nov-15 | Genius on the Left, Lunatic on the Right (Full Version) | Gao Ming | Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd. |
13 | 13 | 9787549564125 | Apr-15 | Dear Andrea | Long Yingtai | Guangxi Normal University Press |
5 | 6 | 9787549550173 | Jan-14 | Seeing Off | Long Yingtai | Guangxi Normal University Press |
16 | 14 | 9787549550159 | Jan-14 | My Child, Just Take Your Time | Long Yingtai | Guangxi Normal University Press |
Not Ranked | 18 | 9787544768559 | Jul-17 | Souvenirs Entomologiques | Jean Henri Fabre | Yilin Press |
Not Ranked | 5 | 9787544768535 | Jun-17 | Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk | Lu Xun | Yilin Press |
Not Ranked | 8 | 9787544729048 | Apr-14 | Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk | Lu Xun | Yilin Press |
17 | 25 | 9787544710817 | Jun-10 | Souvenirs Entomologiques | Jean-Henri Fabre | Yilin Press |
Not Ranked | 2 | 9787540482190 | Aug-17 | I Won’t | Da Bing | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
14 | 20 | 9787540482169 | Jul-17 | It’s a Long Journey | Lu Sihao | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
19 | 21 | 9787540476892 | Jul-16 | Goodwill | Da Bing | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
Not Ranked | 27 | 9787540472238 | Jul-15 | May You | Da Bing | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
Not Ranked | 23 | 9787540468798 | Sep-14 | Take It Easy | Da Bing | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
8 | 19 | 9787539999883 | Mar-17 | 30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon | Er Hunzi | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
18 | 30 | 9787535488473 | May-16 | Walk Alone Freely | Jia Pingwa | Changjiang Literature & Art Press Co.,Ltd. |
11 | 17 | 9787535447340 | Feb-14 | The Poignant Culture Traveling | Yu Qiuyu | Changjiang Literature & Art Press Co.,Ltd. |
Not Ranked | 11 | 9787530213056 | Aug-13 | Recollections of West Hunan | Shen Congwen | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
2 | 7 | 9787508672069 | Jan-17 | Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow | Yuval Noah Harari | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
9 | 22 | 9787508671505 | Dec-16 | Speak Well: Fresh and Interesting Speaking Skills | Ma Weiwei, Huang Zhizhong, Zhou Xuanyi | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
3 | 9 | 9787508660752 | Feb-17 | Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind | Yuval Noah Harari | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
6 | 1 | 9787503561634 | Aug-17 | Xi Jinping’s Seven Years as an Educated Youth | Party School of the Central Committee of C.P.C | Central Party School Press |
22 | 4 | 9787201089140 | Jan-15 | Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk | Lu Xun | Tianjin People’s Publishing House |
7 | 12 | 9787108042453 | Sep-12 | We Three | Yang Jiang | SDX Joint Publishing Company |
Not Ranked | 26 | 9787101113648 | Jan-16 | The Analects of Confucius | Chen Xiaofen | Zhonghua Book Company |
Not Ranked | 15 | 9787101054194 | Dec-06 | Translation and Annotation of the Analects of Confucius | Yang Bojun | Zhonghua Book Company |
28 | 28 | 9787020130719 | Aug-17 | The Reader (Vol.2) | Dong Qing | People’s Literature Publishing House |
10 | 16 | 9787020130702 | Aug-17 | The Reader (Vol.1) | Dong Qing | People’s Literature Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 29 | 9787020116379 | Aug-16 | The Long March (Revised Edition) | Wang Shuzeng | People’s Literature Publishing House |
1 | 3 | 9787020116133 | Jun-16 | Red Star Over China | Edgar Snow | People’s Literature Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 24 | 9787020083442 | Jan-11 | I and the Temple of Earth | Shi Tiesheng | People’s Literature Publishing House |
Foreign Author Fiction Bestsellers in China, September 2017
August 2017 | September 2017 | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Author nationality | Chinese Publisher |
1 | 1 | 9787544270878 | Apr-14 | Miracles of the Namiya General Store | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
3 | 2 | 9787208061644 | Jun-13 | The Kite Runner | Khaled Hosseini | USA | Shanghai People’s Publishing House |
2 | 3 | 9787544258609 | Jan-13 | Journey Under the Midnight Sun | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
4 | 4 | 9787544267618 | Jun-14 | The Devotion of Suspect X | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
5 | 5 | 9787550013247 | May-15 | Ferryman | Claire McFall | UK | Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House |
6 | 6 | 9787544253994 | May-11 | One Hundred Years of Solitude | Gabriel Garcia Marquez | Colombia | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
Not Ranked | 7 | 9787544711678 | Jun-10 | A Sportsman’s Sketches | Ivan Turgenev | Russia | Yilin Press |
7 | 8 | 9787559603340 | May-17 | Home of the Sleeping Mermaid | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd. |
Not Ranked | 9 | 9787544762519 | Dec-16 | How the Steel Was Tempered | Nikolai Ostrovsky | USSR | Yilin Press |
8 | 10 | 9787540455958 | Jun-12 | The Shadow Thief | Marc Levy | France | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
Not Ranked | 11 | 9787544291163 | Aug-17 | Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Version) | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
10 | 12 | 9787544285148 | Oct-16 | Malice | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
11 | 13 | 9787544277617 | Jun-15 | Love in the Time of Cholera | Gabriel Garcia Marquez | Colombia | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
18 | 14 | 9787544760843 | Aug-16 | Jane Eyre | Charlotte Bronte | UK | Yilin Press |
13 | 15 | 9787544285643 | Dec-16 | Salvation of a Saint | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
Not Ranked | 16 | 9787544768795 | Jul-17 | A Sportsman’s Sketches (New Edition) | Ivan Turgenev | Russia | Yilin Press |
Not Ranked | 17 | 9787544760782 | Aug-16 | Gulliver’s Travels | Jonathan Swift | UK | Yilin Press |
Not Ranked | 18 | 9787020123728 | Apr-17 | Fang Hua | Yan Geling | USA | People’s Literature Publishing House |
12 | 19 | 9787201116693 | May-17 | My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry | Fredrik Backman | Sweden | Tianjin People’s Publishing House |
16 | 20 | 9787544277723 | Jun-15 | Tokio | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
Foreign Author Nonfiction Bestsellers in China, September 2017
August 2017 | September 2017 | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Author nationality | Chinese Publisher |
1 | 1 | 9787020116133 | Jun-17 | Red Star Over China | Edgar Snow | USA | People’s Literature Publishing House |
2 | 2 | 9787508672069 | Jan-17 | Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow | Yuval Noah Harari | Israel | CITIC Publishing House Co., Ltd |
3 | 3 | 9787508660752 | Feb-17 | Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind | Yuval Noah Harari | Israel | CITIC Publishing House Co., Ltd |
Not Ranked | 4 | 9787544768559 | Jul-17 | Souvenirs Entomologiques | Jean Henri Fabre | France | Yilin Press |
4 | 5 | 9787544710817 | Jun-10 | Souvenirs Entomologiques | Jean-Henri Fabre | France | Yilin Press |
5 | 6 | 9787514208788 | Jul-13 | The Willpower Instinct (Hardcover) | Kelly McGonigal | USA | Cultural Development Publishing House |
6 | 7 | 9787535732309 | Nov-01 | A Brief History of Time | Stephen William Hawking | UK | Hunan Science & Technology Press |
10 | 8 | 9787308161459 | Aug-16 | The Silk Roads: A New History of the World | Peter Frankopan | UK | Zhejiang Eniversity Press Co., Ltd |
8 | 9 | 9787301109489 | Oct-06 | A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century (Vol.1) | L.S.Stavrianos | USA | Peking University Press |
9 | 10 | 9787301110522 | Oct-06 | A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century (Vol.2) | L.S.Stavrianos | USA | Peking University Press |
16 | 11 | 9787544760850 | Jan-17 | Michelangelo / Tolstoy / Beethoven | Romain Rolland | France | Yilin Press |
7 | 12 | 9787544762885 | Apr-16 | 84, Charing Cross Road | Helene Hanff | USA | Yilin Press |
Not Ranked | 13 | 9787544731799 | Dec-12 | The Story of My Life | Helen Keller | USA | Yilin Press |
12 | 14 | 9787544711623 | Mar-11 | Francis Bacon’s Essays | Francis Bacon | UK | Yilin Press |
11 | 15 | 9787508650890 | May-15 | Who Moved My Cheese? | Spencer Johnson | USA | CITIC Publishing House Co., Ltd |
15 | 16 | 9787300126210 | Sep-10 | Mao: A Biography | Ross Terrill | USA | China Renmin University Press |
Not Ranked | 17 | 9787544761031 | Dec-16 | Stray Birds | Rabindranath Tagore | India | Yilin Press |
13 | 18 | 9787101054491 | Feb-07 | 1587, a Year of No Significance | Ray Huang | USA | Zhonghua Book Company |
Not Ranked | 19 | 9787508649719 | Jan-15 | Zero to One | Peter Thiel,Blake Masters | USA | CITIC Publishing House Co., Ltd |
19 | 20 | 9787514205039 | Jul-12 | The Willpower Instinct | Kelly McGonigal | USA | Cultural Development Publishing House |
Notes on the Charts
OpenBook is a privately owned industry-data research firm based in Beijing. It functions somewhat as Nielsen and NDP do from the West, and Nielsen Book Research International chief Andre Breedt tells us that Nielsen has worked with OpenBook in Asian operations.
Trajectory, based near Boston, is an importer of Western-language ebooks and audiobooks into China. Trajectory is also helping China’s largest publishers export their books and audiobooks through a proprietary global ebook distribution network that includes hundreds of retailers as well as library and school distributors.
This data is estimated by OpenBook to represent some 30 to 40 percent of the total sales activity in China. OpenBooks draws point-of-sale data from a total 3,115 stores located in 1,247 cities. These stores include:
- Traditional bookstores
- Supermarkets
- Campus bookstores
- “Professional” stores, which are said to be small stores with a specific industrial or trade focus
- Airport stores
In addition, OpenBook is drawing data from online bookstores of two main types:
- The “Tmall” stores, of Alibaba (Tmall described as a marketplace of companies that create storefronts online to sell products including books)
- Ten independent online bookselling retailers
China has some 500 or more publishers in operation today. Most of them, Trajectory’s Bryant clarifies for us, are government-owned. Private publishers are required to purchase ISBNs for their titles from a publishing company that is government-owned—which, in other words, creates a system in which all ISBNs are in one way or another registered through government channels. The government approves each book published in China.