By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

Hefei Reported To Have China’s First ‘Shared Bookstore’

As we report news from the 2017 Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair, we also have our monthly listings on overall Chinese bestselling books, produced through a partnership with OpenBook in China and the US-based distribution network Trajectory. Details of what’s reflected in these charts appears at the end of the story.

Our colleague Rainy Liu reports that there’s a notable trend in China toward publisher-owned bookstores, and this is a phenomenon seen among both private and state-owned publishers.

In August, for example, Liu tells us, the Singapore-based bookstore Page One was acquired by Chinese publisher Thinkingdom Media Group Ltd, which recently was listed as a publicly traded corporation. The company, we’re told, anticipates retaining the Page One brand’s coffeehouse style with food and beverage service in addition to books.

Meanwhile, state-owned publisher Citic Press Group has opened 69 bookstores in close to a dozen airports in China.

Another development attracting retail attention is that of the “shared bookstore,” which is a kind of library service now seen in Beijing and Shanghai. The trend is reported to have been seen first in Hefei, in China’s eastern Anhui province in July.

As an article in People’s Daily describes it, “Customers are allowed to borrow up to two books valued under 150 yuan per visit (US$22.75) after registering with an app and paying the 99 yuan deposit fee (US$15).

“All books on sale in the bookstore are available for the service. Returned books that are damaged are sold at a discount. The bookstore also provides a bonus for bookworms. People who finish reading 12 books in three months receive eight percent of their deposit back, and members can receive one yuan for every book read.”

And when the Saoxiaokou Xinhua Bookstore opened on July 16, the People’s Daily reports, about 4,000 books were taken home before close of business that first day.

OpenBook’s Overall Fiction Bestsellers in China, October 2017

As last month, our attention in October’s charts is drawn to younger authors.

Liu Tong, for example, is highly popular with readers born since the 1990s, and the OpenBook-Trajectory listings see his I’m Waiting for You in the Future stands at No. 2 in fiction. The book is said to ask what one might do if one met oneself from the future or past. “What would you say” to  yourself?

Another strong contender, at No. 3 in fiction, is Trespassers, listed for 27 consecutive months, from Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House.

And Fang Hua by Yan Gecen has entered the list at No. 15 in October, in part powered by the film adaptation made by director Feng Xiaogang. The story covers 40 years of a life “both ordinary and significant.”

Sep 2017 Ranking	Oct 2017 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Chinese Publisher
1	1	9787544270878	Apr-14	Miracles of the Namiya General Store	Higashino Keigo	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	2	9787559608949	Sep-17	I’m Waiting for You in Future	Liu Tong	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
Not Ranked	3	9787550024212	Sep-17	Trespassers	Claire McFall	Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House
7	4	9787544267618	Jun-14	The Devotion of Suspect X	Higashino Keigo	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
3	5	9787208061644	Apr-06	The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini	Shanghai People’s Publishing House
9	6	9787550013247	May-15	Ferryman	Claire McFall	Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House
Not Ranked	7	9787556232215	Oct-17	Douluo Continent III: Legend of the Dragon King(20)	Tang Jia San Shao	Hunan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
6	8	9787500601593	Aug-05	Red Crag	Luo Guangbin, Yang Yiyan	China Youth Press
28	9	9787544291163	Aug-17	Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Version)	Higashino Keigo	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
8	10	9787201120713	Jul-17	A Matter of Love	Zhang Haochen	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
4	11	9787544258609	Jan-13	Journey Under the Midnight Sun	Higashino Keigo	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
22	12	9787536692930	Jan-08	The Three-Body Problem	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
12	13	9787530215593	Jun-17	To Live	Yu hua	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
10	14	9787530216781	Jun-17	Ordinary Word (3 Volumns)	Lu Yao	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	15	9787020123728	Apr-17	Fang Hua	Yan Geling	People’s Literature Publishing House
20	16	9787559603340	May-17	Home of the Sleeping Mermaid	Higashino Keigo	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
Not Ranked	17	9787536693968	May-08	The Dark Forest	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
2	18	9787020008735	Jul-98	Journey to the West	Wu Cheng’en	People’s Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	19	9787229030933	Nov-10	Death’s End	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
29	20	9787544285148	Oct-16	Malice	Higashino Keigo	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	21	9787229100605	Jul-16	The Three-Body Problem (Collector’s Edition)	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
26	22	9787020090006	Jul-12	Fortress Besieged	Qian Zhongshu	People’s Literature Publishing House
27	23	9787540455958	Jun-12	The Shadow Thief	Marc Levy	Hunan Literature & Art Press
17	24	9787544253994	May-11	One Hundred Years of Solitude	Gabriel Garc’a M‡rquez	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
13	25	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	26	9787544285643	Dec-16	Salvation of a Saint	Higashino Keigo	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	27	9787540458027	Oct-13	I Belonged to You	Zhang Jiajia	Hunan Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	28	9787544277617	Jun-15	Love in the Time of Cholera	Gabriel Garc’a M‡rquez	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	29	9787539971810	Apr-15	The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry	Gabrielle Zevin	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press
16	30	9787544246279	Apr-10	Rickshaw Boy	Lao She	Nan Hai Publishing Co.

OpenBook’s Overall Nonfiction Bestsellers in China, October 2017

In October, the nonfiction market in China was affected by the first of the month’s National Day, frequently a moment that influences strong buying in the sector.

Partly as a result of this seasonal energy, the chart this month is topped by Seven Years as an Educated Youth about China’s president Xi Jinping and his early-life experiences.

More nationally and culturally influenced rankings are at Nos. 2 and 3, with I Won’t and Red Star Over China.

And as we’ve noticed in the past, the works of Da Bing such as Goodwill and Take It Easy remain great favorites, emphasizing what some Chinese are calling “chicken soup for the soul.”

Interestingly, a translation from the West, Kelly McGonigal’s The Willpower Instinct, has appeared on the chart at No. 25.

Sep 2017 Ranking	Oct 2017 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Chinese Publisher
1	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
2	2	9787540482190	Aug-17	I Won’t	Da Bing	Hunan Literature & Art Press
3	3	9787020116133	Jun-16	Red Star Over China	Edgar Snow	People’s Literature Publishing House
7	4	9787508672069	Jan-17	Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow	Yuval Noah Harari	CITIC Publishing House Co., Ltd
4	5	9787549550173	Jan-14	Seeing Off	Long Yingtai	Guangxi Normal University Press
10	6	9787550263932	Nov-15	Genius on the Left, Lunatic on the Right (Full Version)	Gao Ming	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
9	7	9787508660752	Feb-17	Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind	Yuval Noah Harari	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
12	8	9787108042453	Sep-12	We Three	Yang Jiang	SDX Joint Publishing Company
6	9	9787544768535	Jun-17	Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk	Lu Xun	Yilin Press
16	10	9787020130702	Aug-17	The Reader (Vol.1)	Dong Qing	People’s Literature Publishing House
19	11	9787539999883	Mar-17	30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon	Er Hunzi	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press
5	12	9787201089140	Jan-15	Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk	Lu Xun	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
21	13	9787540476892	Jul-16	Goodwill	Da Bing	Hunan Literature & Art Press
23	14	9787540468798	Sep-14	Take It Easy	Da Bing	Hunan Literature & Art Press
14	15	9787549550159	Jan-14	My Child, Just Take Your Time	Long Yingtai	Guangxi Normal University Press
22	16	9787508671505	Dec-16	Speak Well: Fresh and Interesting Speaking Skills	Ma Weiwei, Huang Zhizhong, Zhou Xuanyi	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
13	17	9787549564125	Apr-15	Dear Andrea	Long Yingtai	Guangxi Normal University Press
27	18	9787540472238	Jul-15	May You	Da Bing	Hunan Literature & Art Press
17	19	9787535447340	Feb-14	The Poignant Culture Traveling	Yu Qiuyu	Changjiang Literature & Art Press Co., Ltd.
Not Ranked	20	9787559608789	Aug-17	Stick with Dreams, Look Forward to Future	Li Shanglong	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
24	21	9787020083442	Jan-11	I and the Temple of Earth	Shi Tiesheng	People’s Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	22	9787559606051	Jul-17	Chinese Classical Poetry Quiz Show (Season 2) (Vol.1)	CCTV “Chinese poetry conference” column group	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
Not Ranked	23	9787535488473	May-16	Walk Alone Freely	Jia Pingwa	Changjiang Literature & Art Press Co.,L td.
Not Ranked	24	9787549529322	Dec-12	Insight	Chai Jing	Guangxi Normal University Press
Not Ranked	25	9787514208788	Jul-13	The Willpower Instinct (Hardcover)	Kelly McGonigal	Cultural Development Publishing House
11	26	9787530213056	Aug-13	Recollections of West Hunan	Shen Congwen	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
28	27	9787020130719	Aug-17	The Reader (Vol.2)	Dong Qing	People’s Literature Publishing House
20	28	9787540482169	Jul-17	It’s a Long Journey	Lu Sihao	Hunan Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	29	9787020130726	Aug-17	The Reader (Vol.3)	Dong Qing	People’s Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	30	9787530214787	Apr-17	The Stories of the Sahara	Echo Chan	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House

We follow the overall charts above now, with our monthly look at rankings of fiction and nonfiction from outside of China.

Foreign Author Fiction Bestsellers in China, October 2017

Sep 2017 Ranking	Oct 2017 Ranking	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.
Not Ranked	2	9787550024212	Sep-17	Trespassers	Claire McFall	UK	Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House
4	3	9787544267618	Jun-14	The Devotion of Suspect X	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
2	4	9787208061644	Jun-13	The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini	USA	Shanghai People’s Publishing House
5	5	9787550013247	May-15	Ferryman	Claire McFall	UK	Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House
11	6	9787544291163	Aug-17	Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Version)	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
3	7	9787544258609	Jan-13	Journey Under the Midnight Sun	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
18	8	9787020123728	Apr-17	Fang Hua	Yan Geling	USA	People’s Literature Publishing House
8	9	9787559603340	May-17	Home of the Sleeping Mermaid	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
12	10	9787544285148	Oct-16	Malice	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
10	11	9787540455958	Jun-12	The Shadow Thief	Marc Levy	France	Hunan Literature & Art Press
6	12	9787544253994	May-11	One Hundred Years of Solitude	Gabriel Garc’a M‡rquez	Colombia	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
15	13	9787544285643	Dec-16	Salvation of a Saint	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
13	14	9787544277617	Jun-15	Love in the Time of Cholera	Gabriel Garc’a M‡rquez	Colombia	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	15	9787539971810	Apr-14	The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry	Gabrielle Zevin	USA	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press
14	16	9787544760843	Aug-16	Jane Eyre	Charlotte Bronte	UK	Yilin Press
20	17	9787544277723	Jun-15	Tokio	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	18	9787544291170	Aug-17	One Hundred Years of Solitude (50th Anniversary Edition)	Gabriel Garc’a M‡rquez	Colombia	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
19	19	9787201116693	May-17	My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry	Fredrik Backman	Sweden	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	20	9787544266239	Sep-13	Mysterious Night	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.

Foreign Author Nonfiction Bestsellers in China, October 2017

Sep 2017 Ranking	Oct 2017 Ranking	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
6	4	9787514208788	Jul-13	The Willpower Instinct (Hardcover)	Kelly McGonigal	USA	Cultural Development Publishing House
7	5	9787535732309	Nov-01	A Brief History of Time	Stephen William Hawking	UK	Hunan Science & Technology Press
9	6	9787301109489	Oct-06	A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century (Vol.1)	L.S.Stavrianos	USA	Peking University Press
12	7	9787544762885	Apr-16	84, Charing Cross Road	Helene Hanff	USA	Yilin Press
10	8	9787301110522	Oct-06	A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century (Vol.2)	L.S.Stavrianos	USA	Peking University Press
8	9	9787308161459	Aug-18	The Silk Roads: A New History of the World	Peter Frankopan	UK	Zhejiang Eniversity Press Co., Ltd
15	10	9787508650890	May-15	Who Moved My Cheese?	Spencer Johnson	USA	CITIC Publishing House Co., Ltd
16	11	9787300126210	Sep-10	Mao: A Biography	Ross Terrill	USA	China Renmin University Press
11	12	9787544760850	Jan-17	Michelangelo / Tolstoy / Beethoven	Romain Rolland	France	Yilin Press
5	13	9787544710817	Jun-10	Souvenirs Entomologiques	Jean-Henri Fabre	France	Yilin Press
13	14	9787544731799	Oct-12	Three Days to See	Helen Keller	USA	Yilin Press
Not Ranked	15	9787513903509	Nov-14	Jerusalem: The Biography	Simon Sebag Montefiore	UK	Democracy and Construction Press
17	16	9787544761031	Dec-16	Stray Birds	Rabindranath Tagore	India	Yilin Press
Not Ranked	17	9787550252585	May-15	Secret Garden	Johanna Basford	UK	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
20	18	9787514205039	Jul-12	The Willpower Instinct	Kelly McGonigal	USA	Cultural Development Publishing House
19	19	9787508649719	Jan-15	Zero to One	Peter Thiel, Blake Masters	USA	CITIC Publishing House Co., Ltd
Not Ranked	20	9787544768511	Jun-17	Three Days to See (New Edition)	Helen Keller	USA	Yilin Press

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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 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 is 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 CEO James Bryant clarifies, 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.

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More charts and rankings from Publishing Perspectives’ China bestsellers can be found here.