
At a tea room in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, among China’s most populous urban centers. Image – iStockphoto: Plej
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Market Boosts from Theater, Public Domain
In January at Publishing Perspectives, we looked at the 20-year windfall of literature entering the public domain in the States thanks to the expiration of the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act.
‘The Long Goodbye’
Today, there’s an interesting look at how a book entering the public domain is doing in another market. Raymond Chandler’s 1953 The Long Goodbye is a hit in China. Published there in September by Hainan Publishing House, it’s now at No. 23 on the OpenBook fiction bestseller list for March, This, despite the fact that there are 10 editions of the book on the market, thanks to its status in the public domain in China.
Hainan, we’re told by Rainy Liu at OpenBook in Beijing, has marketed its edition of the book as a classic, rather than as a private-eye (Philip Marlowe) mystery, and is using the slogan, “No wonder Haruki Murakami has read it 12 times!” to impress readers—a tactic that may indeed be working, as the Hainan edition has sold more copies than the other nine editions on the Chinese market. None of those others has moved onto the charts.
Otherwise, the main fiction list in China once more proves to be a slow moving one, with the Top 10 titles little changed except for the rise of Claire McFall’s Ferryman by 11 points to arrive at No. 8.
Another interesting trend shows up in a rise in recent years among young Chinese readers in live stage performance. Theater there, like film in China and other markets, offers a development direction for publishers that can add up to increased sales.

‘Newcomer’
An example of this is found in the books of the major-favorite Japanese author in China, Higashino Keigo, whose titles are monthly fixtures on our charts.
Since last year, OpenBook is pointing out, a number of Keigo’s works have been adapted for the stage, including Journey Under the Midnight Sun and Miracles of the Namiya General Store.
And this month, you might notice a newcomer titled Newcomer on the list at No. 30. That’s a new Keigo. And the Japanese stage play adapted from the book has led to a Chinese adaptation for theater.
Meanwhile, in nonfiction in March, we see three books on the list for the first time:
- Xi Jinping in Zhengding at No. 7
- Nonviolent Communication at No. 22
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad, No. 25
There are also three books returning to the nonfiction list:
- Positive Discipline at No. 8
- My Child, Just Take Your Time ranked No. 28
- I Won’t at No. 30
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, China, March 2019
February 2019 Ranking | March 2019 Ranking | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Chinese Publisher |
4 | 1 | 9787506365437 | 2010-06 | To Live | Yu hua | The Writer’s Publishing House |
1 | 2 | 9787536692930 | 2008-01 | The Three-Body Problem | Liu Cixin | Chongqing Publishing House |
2 | 3 | 9787536693968 | 2008-05 | The Dark Forest | Liu Cixin | Chongqing Publishing House |
3 | 4 | 9787229030933 | 2010-11 | Death’s End | Liu Cixin | Chongqing Publishing House |
5 | 5 | 9787511360809 | 2016-06 | The Wandering Earth | Liu Cixin | China Overseas Chinese Press |
6 | 6 | 9787500601593 | 2005-08 | Red Crag | Luo Guangbin,Yang Yiyan | China Youth Press |
7 | 7 | 9787208061644 | 2006-04 | The Kite Runner (2018 Edition) | Khaled Hosseini | Shanghai People’s Publishing House |
19 | 8 | 9787550013247 | 2015-05 | Ferryman | Claire McFall | Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House |
12 | 9 | 9787020090006 | 2012-07 | Fortress Besieged | Qian Zhongshu | People’s Literature Publishing House |
9 | 10 | 9787544270878 | 2014-04 | Miracles of the Namiya General Store | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
13 | 11 | 9787540487645 | 2018-06 | Moments We Shared | Zhang Jiajia | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
11 | 12 | 9787530215593 | 2017-06 | To Live | Yu hua | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
8 | 13 | 9787530216781 | 2017-06 | Ordinary Word (3 Volumns) | Lu Yao | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
23 | 14 | 9787559620187 | 2018-10 | Ran Freely | Wu Zhe | Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd. |
18 | 15 | 9787544291163 | 2017-08 | Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Version) | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
17 | 16 | 9787544291170 | 2017-08 | One Hundred Years of Solitude (50th Anniversary Edition) | Gabriel García Márquez | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
30 | 17 | 9787020002207 | 1998-07 | Dream of the Red Chamber | Cao Xueqin | People’s Literature Publishing House |
15 | 18 | 9787541151736 | 2018-12 | Uninhibited | Mo Xiang Tong Xiu | Sichuan Literature & Art Press |
10 | 19 | 9787539983295 | 2015-10 | Foundation | Isaac Asimov | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
Not Ranked | 20 | 9787550024212 | 2017-09 | Trespassers | Claire McFall | Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House |
24 | 21 | 9787544267618 | 2014-06 | The Devotion of Suspect X | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
26 | 22 | 9787544285148 | 2016-10 | Malice | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
Not Ranked | 23 | 9787544384636 | 2018-09 | The Long Goodbye | Raymond Chandler | Hainan Publishing House |
20 | 24 | 9787500680239 | 2009-01 | Pioneering | Liu Qing | China Youth Press |
Not Ranked | 25 | 9787544291224 | 2017-08 | After School (2017 Version) | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
28 | 26 | 9787544277617 | 2015-06 | Love in the Time of Cholera | Gabriel García Márquez | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
Not Ranked | 27 | 9787020008728 | 1998-07 | Romance of the Three Kingdoms | Luo Guanzhong | People’s Literature Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 28 | 9787506365680 | 2012-12 | Chronicle of a Blood Merchant | Yu hua | The Writer’s Publishing House |
27 | 29 | 9787506394864 | 2017-09 | Sophie’s World (New Edition) | Jostein Gaarder | The Writer’s Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 30 | 9787544281102 | 2016-01 | Newcomer | Higashino Keigo | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
OpenBook’s Nonfiction Bestsellers, China, March 2019
February 2019 Ranking | March 2019 Ranking | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Chinese Publisher |
2 | 1 | 9787201088945 | 2014-12 | No More Than Skins | Cai Chongda | Tianjin People’s Publishing House |
1 | 2 | 9787559401007 | 2017-04 | Good Loneliness | Chen Guo | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
3 | 3 | 9787511553645 | 2018-04 | Good Love: Love Philosophy of Chen Guo | Chen Guo | People Daily Publishing House |
4 | 4 | 9787201094014 | 2015-09 | Six Records of a Floating Life | Shen Fu | Tianjin People’s Publishing House |
7 | 5 | 9787510842344 | 2016-03 | All the Lost Will Be Repaid in Another Way | Geng Shuai | Jiuzhou Press |
16 | 6 | 9787559620125 | 2018-05 | Genius on the Left, Lunatic on the Right (Full Version)(New Edition) | Gao Ming | Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd. |
Not Ranked | 7 | 9787503565397 | 2019-02 | Xi Jinping in Zhengding | Party School of the Central Committee of C.P.C | Central Party School Press |
Not Ranked | 8 | 9787550268517 | 2016-07 | Positive Discipline | Jane Nelsen | Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd. |
9 | 9 | 9787108063106 | 2018-06 | We Three (Third Edition) | Yang Jiang | SDX Joint Publishing Company |
10 | 10 | 9787539999883 | 2017-03 | 30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon | Chen Lei | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
14 | 11 | 9787559418111 | 2018-04 | 30 Minutes of World History in Cartoon | Chen Lei | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
11 | 12 | 9787544382052 | 2018-05 | 30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon (3) | Chen Lei | Hainan Publishing House |
13 | 13 | 9787544382045 | 2018-05 | 30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon (2) | Chen Lei | Hainan Publishing House |
6 | 14 | 9787540481551 | 2018-11 | The Emotional Quotient Lesson of Kevin Tsai: Live for Yourself for One Time | Kevin Tsai | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
20 | 15 | 9787508684031 | 2017-12 | Principles | Ray Dalio | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
8 | 16 | 9787508689586 | 2018-07 | Economics Lecture Notes | Xue Zhaofeng | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
21 | 17 | 9787201088822 | 2014-09 | How to Win Friends & Influence People | Dale Carnegie | Tianjin People’s Publishing House |
17 | 18 | 9787549550173 | 2014-01 | Seeing Off | Long Yingtai | Guangxi Normal University Press |
12 | 19 | 9787508660752 | 2017-02 | Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind | Yuval Noah Harari | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
5 | 20 | 9787544771627 | 2018-03 | Fu Lei’s Letters for Home (2018 Edition) | Fu Lei,Fu Min | Yilin Press |
24 | 21 | 9787535488473 | 2016-05 | Walk Alone Freely | Jia Pingwa | Changjiang Literature & Art Press Co.,Ltd. |
Not Ranked | 22 | 9787508095226 | 2018-09 | Nonviolent Communication | Marshall B.Rosenberg | Huaxia Publishing House |
22 | 23 | 9787540487669 | 2018-05 | You Are Bad | Da Bing | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
26 | 24 | 9787535732309 | 2001-11 | A Brief History of Time | Stephen W.Hawking | Hunan Science & Technology Press |
Not Ranked | 25 | 9787220102912 | 2017-09 | Rich Dad, Poor Dad | Robert T.Kiyosaki | Sichuan People’s Publishing House |
15 | 26 | 9787540467784 | 2014-06 | The Art of Speaking of Kevin Tsai | Kevin Tsai | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
19 | 27 | 9787508698175 | 2018-12 | Variate: Microtrend of China’s Society | He Fan | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
Not Ranked | 28 | 9787549550159 | 2014-01 | My Child, Just Take Your Time | Long Yingtai | Guangxi Normal University Press |
29 | 29 | 9787530214787 | 2017-04 | The Stories of the Sahara | Echo | Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 30 | 9787540482190 | 2017-08 | I Won’t | Da Bing | Hunan Literature & Art Press |
Foreign Author Fiction Bestsellers, China, March 2019
February 2019 Ranking | March 2019 Ranking | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Author nationality | Chinese Publisher |
1 | 1 | 9787208061644 | 2018-02 | The Kite Runner (2018 Edition) | Khaled Hosseini | United States of America | Shanghai People’s Publishing House |
7 | 2 | 9787550013247 | 2015-05 | Ferryman | Claire McFall | Britain | Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House |
2 | 3 | 9787544270878 | 2014-04 | Miracles of the Namiya General Store | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
6 | 4 | 9787544291163 | 2017-08 | Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Version) | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
5 | 5 | 9787544291170 | 2017-08 | One Hundred Years of Solitude (50th Anniversary Edition) | Gabriel García Márquez | Colombia | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
3 | 6 | 9787539983295 | 2015-10 | Foundation | Isaac Asimov | United States of America | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
14 | 7 | 9787550024212 | 2017-09 | Trespassers | Claire McFall | Britain | Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House |
8 | 8 | 9787544267618 | 2014-06 | The Devotion of Suspect X | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
9 | 9 | 9787544285148 | 2016-10 | Malice | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
12 | 10 | 9787544384636 | 2018-09 | The Long Goodbye | Raymond Chandler | United States of America | Hainan Publishing House |
13 | 11 | 9787544291224 | 2017-08 | After School (2017 Version) | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
11 | 12 | 9787544277617 | 2015-06 | Love in the Time of Cholera | Gabriel García Márquez | Colombia | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
10 | 13 | 9787506394864 | 2017-09 | Sophie’s World (New Edition) | Jostein Gaarder | Norway | The Writer’s Publishing House |
19 | 14 | 9787544281102 | 2016-01 | Newcomer | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
4 | 15 | 9787544760874 | 2016-10 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (New Edition) | Jules Verne | France | Yilin Press |
Not Ranked | 16 | 9787201116693 | 2017-05 | My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry | Fredrik Backman | Sweden | Tianjin People’s Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 17 | 9787544258210 | 2017-10 | Naoko | Higashino Keigo | Japan | Nan Hai Publishing Co. |
Not Ranked | 18 | 9787539982830 | 2015-06 | Everything I Never Told You | Celeste Ng | United States of America | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
16 | 19 | 9787532776771 | 2018-03 | Norwegian Wood (30th Anniversary Edition) | Haruki Murakami | Japan | Shanghai Translation Publishing House |
15 | 20 | 9787539971810 | 2015-04 | The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry | Gabrielle Zevin | United States of America | Jiangsu Literature & Art Press |
Foreign Author Nonfiction Bestsellers, China, March 2019
February 2019 Ranking | March 2019 Ranking | ISBN | Release Date | Title (Translated) | Author | Author nationality | Chinese Publisher |
Not Ranked | 1 | 9787550268517 | 2016-07 | Positive Discipline | Jane Nelsen | United States of America | Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd. |
2 | 2 | 9787508684031 | 2017-12 | Principles | Ray Dalio | United States of America | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
3 | 3 | 9787201088822 | 2014-09 | How to Win Friends & Influence People | Dale Carnegie | United States of America | Tianjin People’s Publishing House |
1 | 4 | 9787508660752 | 2017-02 | Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind | Yuval Noah Harari | Israel | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
Not Ranked | 5 | 9787508095226 | 2018-09 | Nonviolent Communication | Marshall B.Rosenberg | United States of America | Huaxia Publishing House |
4 | 6 | 9787535732309 | 2001-11 | A Brief History of Time | Stephen W.Hawking | Britain | Hunan Science & Technology Press |
9 | 7 | 9787220102912 | 2017-09 | Rich Dad, Poor Dad | Robert T.Kiyosaki | United States of America | Sichuan People’s Publishing House |
5 | 8 | 9787514219203 | 2017-09 | The Willpower Instinct (New Edition) | Kelly McGonigal | United States of America | Cultural Development Publishing House |
6 | 9 | 9787108009821 | 2014-03 | 1587, a Year of No Significance | Ray Huang | United States of America | SDX Joint Publishing Company |
8 | 10 | 9787508672069 | 2017-01 | Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow | Yuval Noah Harari | Israel | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
7 | 11 | 9787508692098 | 2018-07 | 21 Lessons for the 21st Century | Yuval Noah Harari | Israel | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
11 | 12 | 9787301109489 | 2006-10 | A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century (Vol.1) | L. S. Stavrianos | United States of America | Peking University Press |
16 | 13 | 9787508650890 | 2015-05 | Who Moved My Cheese? | Spencer Johnson | United States of America | CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd |
12 | 14 | 9787301110522 | 2006-10 | A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century (Vol.2) | L. S. Stavrianos | United States of America | Peking University Press |
13 | 15 | 9787514208788 | 2013-07 | The Willpower Instinct (Hardcover) | Kelly McGonigal | United States of America | Cultural Development Publishing House |
10 | 16 | 9787544760850 | 2017-01 | Michelangelo / Tolstoy / Beethoven | Romain Rolland | France | Yilin Press |
15 | 17 | 9787544768511 | 2017-06 | Three Days to See (New Edition) | Helen Keller | United States of America | Yilin Press |
17 | 18 | 9787535733597 | 2002-02 | The Universe in a Nutshell | Stephen W.Hawking | Britain | Hunan Science & Technology Press |
14 | 19 | 9787020116133 | 2017-06 | Red Star Over China | Edgar Snow | United States of America | People’s Literature Publishing House |
Not Ranked | 20 | 9787800875830 | 1999-09 | How to Win Friends and Influence Others & How to Stop Worrying and Start Living | Dale Carnegie | United States of America | China Development Press |
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 generate 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 China bestseller reports from Publishing Perspectives are here.