In 2018, OpenBook reports, the Chinese market saw a sharp continuation of backlist’s popularity among consumers over new titles. Chart: OpenBook / Trajectory
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Online Over Physical Sales, Backlist Over New Titles
In 2018, the value of China’s retail book market reached 89.4 billion yuan (US$13.2 billion), according to Beijing’s OpenBook research. That revenue is based on units sold at list price and may not reflect discounted sales.In that light, 2018 saw an increase in the overall book market’s value of 11.3 percent over that of 2017.
Chart: OpenBook/Trajectory
Online bookselling continues to grow in China, in 2018 at a rate of 24.7 percent. That growth rate, however, shows a mild slowdown, according to OpenBook, and a valuation in online sales of some 57.3 billion yuan (US$79.1 billion).
By contrast, OpenBook reports, physical bookstores in China reported an aggregate negative growth rate, down 6.69 percent in 2018 over 2017. Sales in physical stores reached some 32.1 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion).
The online bookstore channel in China, according to researchers at OpenBook, began to build its place in the Chinese market in 2008 and has moved rapidly, gaining at more than 20 percent annually. The speed of online retail’s movement in the market is attributed largely to price discounts which may average as much as 38 percent off list pricing.
Chart: OpenBook / Trajectory
As Publishing Perspectives reported in our coverage of the OpenBook “Reading X” conference held in Beijing earlier this month, the company saw 156,000 new trade books released in 2018. This reflects a trend in which backlist has become steadily more important in China, with a corresponding decline in new-title publication. OpenBook tells us for our report today (January 21) that new book production was first detected to be falling below 30 percent of market action in 2008, and by 2015 new books’ publication had dropped to below 20 percent of sales.
This is frequently reflected in our reportage of China’s bestsellers. (Our December 2018 bestseller charts are below.) Both in our overall and foreign-author charts and in fiction and nonfiction, classic titles are firmly entrenched in the interests of Chinese readers, and even relatively contemporary work can stay on charts for years once is popularity is established. Reissued titles are a mainstay of the lists, as well.
In this sense, China’s market is rather slow moving: while its overall growth is robust, favored titles really latch onto the charts and show enormous tenacity among consumers. And in an interesting note, OpenBook’s staffers say they’ve discerned a mounting resistance to new titles in the Top-10 space. In 2015, eight titles of the Top 10 were new. In 2018 only three titles in the Top 10 were new, and of those, two were nonfiction (Liang Jia He and You Bad by DaBing) and one was a children’s book.
This means that no new adult fiction entered the Top 10 bestseller list in China in 2018.
Chart: OpenBook / Trajectory
Bestselling Authors in China 2018
‘Xiao Mao Ri Li by 2018 top author Yang HongYing
Yang HongYing remains the bestselling author for 2018 in China. Since 2000, Yang HongYing ‘s works have become bestselling children’s books, including titles from the writer’s campus novels series, the “Naughty Boy Ma Xiaotiao” series, and the “Diary Of A Smiling Cat” series.
Japan’s Higashino Keigo remains far and away the bestselling author of fiction books in 2018. He has 12 titles listed on the annual fiction bestselling Top 100.
The nonfiction author of 2018 was by Da Bing. Since 2014, he has published a new title every year. Each one went into the Top 30 of the fiction bestseller within a month of publication.
Among new writers spotted in 2018, OpenBook recommends keeping an eye on a nonfiction writing group known as the TF Boys.
Below, then, are OpenBook’s overall lists from (month) of bestsellers in fiction and nonfiction, followed by its lists of bestselling fiction and nonfiction in China by authors from outside the country.
At the end of our article, as always, you’ll find notes on how the lists are constructed.
OpenBook’s Fiction Bestsellers in China, December 2018
| November 2018 Ranking | December 2018 Ranking | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Chinese Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | 9787506365437 | 2010-06 | To Live | Yu hua | The Writer’s Publishing House |
| 2 | 2 | 9787536692930 | 2008-01 | The Three-Body Problem | Liu Cixin | Chongqing Publishing House |
| 3 | 3 | 9787536693968 | 2008-05 | The Dark Forest | Liu Cixin | Chongqing Publishing House |
| 4 | 4 | 9787229030933 | 2010-11 | Death’s End | Liu Cixin | Chongqing Publishing House |
| 5 | 5 | 9787208061644 | 2006-04 | The Kite Runner (2018 Edition) | Khaled Hosseini | Shanghai People’s Publishing House |
| 6 | 6 | 9787540487645 | 2018-06 | Moments We Shared | Zhang Jiajia | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
| 7 | 7 | 9787544270878 | 2014-04 | Miracles of the Namiya General Store | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| Not Ranked | 8 | 9787540487676 | 2018-07 | Used to be Alone | Rui Xi | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
| Not Ranked | 9 | 9787541151736 | 2018-12 | Uninhibited | Mo Xiang Tong Xiu | Sichuan Literature & Art Press |
| 10 | 10 | 9787530216781 | 2017-06 | Ordinary Word (3 Volumns) | Lu Yao | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
| 9 | 11 | 9787544291170 | 2017-08 | One Hundred Years of Solitude (50th Anniversary Edition) | Gabriel García Márquez | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| Not Ranked | 12 | 9787541151460 | 2018-11 | Stage Wait | Li Dan | Sichuan Literature & Art Press |
| 12 | 13 | 9787544277617 | 2015-06 | Love in the Time of Cholera | Gabriel García Márquez | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 8 | 14 | 9787544291163 | 2017-08 | Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Version) | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 11 | 15 | 9787550013247 | 2015-05 | Ferryman | Claire McFall | Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House |
| 13 | 16 | 9787020090006 | 2012-07 | Fortress Besieged | Qian Zhongshu | People’s Literature Publishing House |
| 16 | 17 | 9787530215593 | 2017-06 | To Live | Yu hua | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
| Not Ranked | 18 | 9787540487522 | 2018-10 | Cry Me a Sad River (2018 Edition) | Guo Jingming | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
| 14 | 19 | 9787544285148 | 2016-10 | Malice | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 17 | 20 | 9787544267618 | 2014-06 | The Devotion of Suspect X | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 15 | 21 | 9787506365680 | 2012-12 | Chronicle of a Blood Merchant | Yu hua | The Writer’s Publishing House |
| 18 | 22 | 9787539971810 | 2015-04 | The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry | Gabrielle Zevin | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
| 24 | 23 | 9787540458027 | 2013-10 | I Belonged to You | Zhang Jiajia | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
| Not Ranked | 24 | 9787020127894 | 2017-07 | Fortress Besieged | Qian Zhongshu | People’s Literature Publishing House |
| 19 | 25 | 9787550024212 | 2017-09 | Trespassers | Claire McFall | Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House |
| 26 | 26 | 9787506394864 | 2017-09 | Sophie’s World (New Edition) | Jostein Gaarder | The Writer’s Publishing House |
| 20 | 27 | 9787559620187 | 2018-10 | Ran Freely | Wu Zhe | Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd. |
| 21 | 28 | 9787544291224 | 2017-08 | After School (2017 Version) | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| Not Ranked | 29 | 9787532776771 | 2018-03 | Norwegian Wood (30th Anniversary Edition) | Haruki Murakami | Shanghai Translation Publishing House |
| 23 | 30 | 9787530211564 | 2012-03 | Life | Lu Yao | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
OpenBook’s Nonfiction Bestsellers in China, December 2018
| November 2018 Ranking | December 2018 Ranking | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Chinese Publisher |
| Not Ranked | 1 | 9787540481551 | 2018-11 | The Emotional Quotient Lesson of Kevin Tsai: Live for Yourself for One Time | Kevin Tsai | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
| Not Ranked | 2 | 9787510842344 | 2016-03 | All the Lost Will Be Repaid in Another Way | Geng Shuai | Jiuzhou Press |
| 12 | 3 | 9787508689586 | 2018-07 | Economics Lecture Notes | Xue Zhaofeng | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
| 7 | 4 | 9787508660752 | 2017-02 | Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind | Yuval Noah Harari | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
| 1 | 5 | 9787201094014 | 2015-09 | Six Records of a Floating Life | Shen Fu | Tianjin People’s Publishing House |
| 22 | 6 | 9787540467784 | 2014-06 | The Art of Speaking of Kevin Tsai | Kevin Tsai | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
| Not Ranked | 7 | 9787540468316 | 2014-07 | The Art of Speaking of Kevin Tsai (2) | Kevin Tsai | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
| 21 | 8 | 9787503561634 | 2017-08 | Xi Jinping’s Seven Years as an Educated Youth | Party School of the Central Committee of C.P.C | Central Party School Press |
| 8 | 9 | 9787549550173 | 2014-01 | Seeing Off | Long Yingtai | Guangxi Normal University Press |
| 19 | 10 | 9787108063106 | 2018-06 | We Three (Third Edition) | Yang Jiang | SDX Joint Publishing Company |
| 2 | 11 | 9787540487669 | 2018-05 | You Are Bad | Da Bing | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
| 4 | 12 | 9787539999883 | 2017-03 | 30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon | Er Hunzi | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
| 5 | 13 | 9787544382045 | 2018-05 | 30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon (2) | Chen Lei | Hainan Publishing House |
| 15 | 14 | 9787508684031 | 2017-12 | Principles | Ray Dalio | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
| 6 | 15 | 9787559418111 | 2018-04 | 30 Minutes of World History in Cartoon | Er Hunzi | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
| 3 | 16 | 9787544382052 | 2018-05 | 30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon (3) | Chen Lei | Hainan Publishing House |
| Not Ranked | 17 | 9787508672069 | 2017-01 | Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow | Yuval Noah Harari | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
| 14 | 18 | 9787508692098 | 2018-07 | 21 Lessons for the 21st Century | Yuval Noah Harari | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
| 10 | 19 | 9787201088945 | 2014-12 | No More Than Skins | Cai Chongda | Tianjin People’s Publishing House |
| Not Ranked | 20 | 9787559401007 | 2017-04 | Good Loneliness | Chen Guo | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
| 9 | 21 | 9787535488473 | 2016-05 | Walk Alone Freely | Jia Pingwa | Changjiang Literature & Art Press Co.,Ltd. |
| 11 | 22 | 9787540481827 | 2017-08 | Gag Reel | Li Dan | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
| 25 | 23 | 9787535732309 | 2001-11 | A Brief History of Time | Stephen W.Hawking | Hunan Science & Technology Press |
| 16 | 24 | 9787559620125 | 2018-05 | Genius on the Left, Lunatic on the Right (Full Version)(New Edition) | Gao Ming | Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd. |
| 27 | 25 | 9787514219203 | 2017-09 | The Willpower Instinct (New Edition) | Kelly McGonigal | Cultural Development Publishing House |
| 18 | 26 | 9787549550159 | 2014-01 | My Child, Just Take Your Time | Long Yingtai | Guangxi Normal University Press |
| 13 | 27 | 9787108009821 | 1998-07 | 1587, a Year of No Significance | Ray Huang | SDX Joint Publishing Company |
| Not Ranked | 28 | 9787224127232 | 2018-04 | Liangjiahe | Editing Group for Liangjiahe | Shaanxi People’s Publishing House |
| 20 | 29 | 9787550263932 | 2015-11 | Genius on the Left, Lunatic on the Right (Full Version) | Gao Ming | Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd. |
| 24 | 30 | 9787549564125 | 2015-04 | Dear Andrea | Long Yingtai,Andreas Walther | Guangxi Normal University Press |
Foreign Author Fiction Bestsellers in China, December 2018
| November 2018 Ranking | December 2018 Ranking | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Author nationality | Chinese Publisher |
| 2 | 1 | 9787544270878 | 2014-04 | Miracles of the Namiya General Store | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 5 | 2 | 9787550013247 | 2015-05 | Ferryman | Claire McFall | Britain | Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House |
| 1 | 3 | 9787208061644 | 2018-02 | The Kite Runner (2018 Edition) | Khaled Hosseini | United States of America | Shanghai People’s Publishing House |
| 8 | 4 | 9787544267618 | 2014-06 | The Devotion of Suspect X | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 3 | 5 | 9787544291163 | 2017-08 | Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Version) | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 9 | 6 | 9787539971810 | 2015-04 | The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry | Gabrielle Zevin | United States of America | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
| 10 | 7 | 9787550024212 | 2017-09 | Trespassers | Claire McFall | Britain | Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House |
| 6 | 8 | 9787544277617 | 2015-06 | Love in the Time of Cholera | Gabriel García Márquez | Colombia | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 4 | 9 | 9787544291170 | 2017-08 | One Hundred Years of Solitude (50th Anniversary Edition) | Gabriel García Márquez | Colombia | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 7 | 10 | 9787544285148 | 2016-10 | Malice | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 15 | 11 | 9787544281102 | 2016-01 | Newcomer | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 12 | 12 | 9787506394864 | 2017-09 | Sophie’s World (New Edition) | Jostein Gaarder | Norway | The Writer’s Publishing House |
| 16 | 13 | 9787532776771 | 2018-03 | Norwegian Wood (30th Anniversary Edition) | Haruki Murakami | Japan | Shanghai Translation Publishing House |
| 11 | 14 | 9787544291224 | 2017-08 | After School (2017 Version) | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 20 | 15 | 9787544749398 | 2015-01 | The Catcher in the Rye | Jerome David Salinger | United States of America | Yilin Press |
| Not Ranked | 16 | 9787544277723 | 2015-06 | Tokio | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| Not Ranked | 17 | 9787544258210 | 2017-10 | Naoko | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 13 | 18 | 9787530217054 | 2017-12 | The Alchemist | Paulo Coelho | Brazil | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
| Not Ranked | 19 | 9787544265591 | 2013-08 | Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
| 14 | 20 | 9787530218198 | 2018-07 | The Clown of House Juji | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
Foreign Author Nonfiction Bestsellers in China, December 2018
| November 2018 Ranking | December 2018 Ranking | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Author nationality | Chinese Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | 9787508660752 | 2017-02 | Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind | Yuval Noah Harari | Israel | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
| 3 | 2 | 9787508692098 | 2018-07 | 21 Lessons for the 21st Century | Yuval Noah Harari | Israel | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
| 7 | 3 | 9787508672069 | 2017-01 | Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow | Yuval Noah Harari | Israel | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
| 6 | 4 | 9787514219203 | 2017-09 | The Willpower Instinct (New Edition) | Kelly McGonigal | United States of America | Cultural Development Publishing House |
| 5 | 5 | 9787535732309 | 2001-11 | A Brief History of Time | Stephen W.Hawking | Britain | Hunan Science & Technology Press |
| 4 | 6 | 9787508684031 | 2017-12 | Principles | Ray Dalio | United States of America | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
| 2 | 7 | 9787108009821 | 2014-03 | 1587, a Year of No Significance | Ray Huang | United States of America | SDX Joint Publishing Company |
| 11 | 8 | 9787020116133 | 2017-06 | Red Star Over China | Edgar Snow | United States of America | People’s Literature Publishing House |
| 18 | 9 | 9787300126210 | 2010-09 | Mao: A Biography | Ross Terrill | United States of America | China Renmin University Press |
| 12 | 10 | 9787535733597 | 2002-02 | The Universe in a Nutshell | Stephen W.Hawking | Britain | Hunan Science & Technology Press |
| 9 | 11 | 9787301109489 | 2006-10 | A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century (Vol.1) | L. S. Stavrianos | United States of America | Peking University Press |
| 10 | 12 | 9787301110522 | 2006-10 | A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century (Vol.2) | L. S. Stavrianos | United States of America | Peking University Press |
| 14 | 13 | 9787514208788 | 2013-07 | The Willpower Instinct (Hardcover) | Kelly McGonigal | United States of America | Cultural Development Publishing House |
| 13 | 14 | 9787544762885 | 2016-04 | 84, Charing Cross Road | Helene Hanff | United States of America | Yilin Press |
| 16 | 15 | 9787544768559 | 2017-07 | Souvenirs Entomologiques | Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre | France | Yilin Press |
| 15 | 16 | 9787508650890 | 2015-05 | Who Moved My Cheese? | Spencer Johnson | United States of America | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
| Not Ranked | 17 | 9787513903509 | 2014-11 | Jerusalem: The Biography | Simon Sebag Montefiore | Britain | Democracy and Construction Press |
| 8 | 18 | 9787559407634 | 2018-03 | Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things | Jenny Lawson | United States of America | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
| 19 | 19 | 9787544760850 | 2017-01 | Michelangelo / Tolstoy / Beethoven | Romain Rolland | France | Yilin Press |
| Not Ranked | 20 | 9787308161459 | 2016-08 | The Silk Roads: A New History of the World | Peter Frankopan | Britain | Zhejiang Eniversity Press Co.,Ltd |
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. With authoritative data and information resources, OpenBook is able to deliver consulting service to partners who would like to explore the Chinese book market and identify suitable partners.
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. Trajectory recently has added copyright services, both for content going into China and for exports from China to the rest of the world.
Up until July 1, 2018, this data has been estimated by OpenBook to represent some 50 percent of the total sales activity in China. OpenBook draws point-of-sale data from more than 6,000 bookstores in China, including a total 3,496 physical bookstores representative of all the provinces in China except Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.Retail outlets include:
- Traditional bookstores
- Supermarkets
- Campus bookstores
- “Professional” stores, said to be small stores with a specific industrial or trade focus
- Airport stores
In addition, OpenBook is drawing data from online bookstores of three main types:
- The “Tmall” stores of Alibaba (Tmall is described as a marketplace of companies that create storefronts online to sell products including books)
- The “JingDong” Stores of JD.com (similar to Tmall as a marketplace of both individual companies and bookstores operated by JD.com)
- 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.
More of China bestseller reports from Publishing Perspectives are here.