That reading list your teacher sent you home with can do great things for sales of several ‘great classics’ in a hot July in China.

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

Summer Reading’s Fab Four

July in China, as in so many places, involves vacationing, and as this year’s students turned to their summer reading lists, a quartet of books that our associates at Beijing OpenBook are calling “the four great classics of Chinese literature” reasserted their supremacy.

Interestingly, this is an annual trend that does not float all “classic” boats. These titles became the only four Chinese classical literature books among the Top 30 sellers in fiction:

• Dream of the Red Chamber rose six places to enter the Top 10 at No. 9 on OpenBook’s overall fiction chart
• Water Margin rose by 17 places and ranked No. 12
• Journey to the West made a comeback on the chart at No. 17
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms also returned, docking itself at No. 21

We’ve learned this time from our colleagues at OpenBook that these four books were first called “the four great classics” in 1982.

“They’re the pinnacles of Chinese classical literature,” we’re told by Wendy Pan, “and they contain a broad and profound history and culture” and are easily reflective of readers’ life experiences.

These four titles have had influence on several generations of educational curricula. The character Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King from Journey to the West, is recognized across the culture for fiery eyes and great powers. Zhuge Liang, an outstanding master from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, has a prominent role in plotting strategy for his emperor, Cao Cao. Wu Song from Water Margin dares to act and repays kindness.

These are vivid characters with distinct personalities, and they’ve become personalities many children admire and may dream of becoming.

In a trend we know well in the West, these books also are benefitting on contemporary lists from adaptations for film and television. Those adaptations are broadcast on various local television stations every summer in China, re-boosting their presence and visibility as kids turn to them to read as classwork.

The OpenBook team says they see readers now looking forward to forming a “composite perception” of these stories “in images and text.”

And beyond that set of bestselling fixtures, we want to draw your attention this time to another title, Heliotrope & Zjz in its second volume.

Unlike those “classics,” this one is making its debut on the charts, arriving at No. 16, impressive for a newcomer.

In the past, we’ve talked about the formidable place of “online literature,” which is the phrase used in Asian markets for serialized storytelling, often followed by many millions of readers. In fact, in case you missed it, our September 7 piece, an exclusive in which we relayed several sources’ information on a forthcoming serialization app for publishers’ backlist, is something being put together by people with strong connections to that Asian tradition and marketplace.

Heliotrope & Zjz is the only book created from a successful online serialization in July’s fiction chart. And—another familiar trend—it’s a campus story, hugely popular among young adult readers.

The platform that catapulted this one to such cross-format popularity is Jinjiang Literature, and author, Ying Cheng, is on contract to that company. That’s a long way of saying there may be more volumes in this so-far two-book series, of course. The story? It’s a romance between a “handsome and affectionate” pilot, we’re told, and a “gentle and firm” surgeon. The style of writing is being described to us as “delicate and warm–a book deeply loved and sought after by many” who are reading on the Internet.

In its online incarnation, the book has logged more than 680,000 fans on a single platform.  The first chapter alone carries more than 1.93 million comments. That’s the kind of number that gladdens a publisher’s eye, of course, because much of that ready audience can be drawn to a print edition of the book.

The first volume of Heliotrope & Zjz has entered the Top 30 five times (and that’s why the title seems familiar, if you’re a regular reader of our China Bestsellers).

Below, then, are OpenBook’s overall lists from July of bestsellers in fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books, 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, July 2022

June 2022 Ranking	July 2022 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Chinese Publisher
2	1	9787020139590	2019-06	The Last Quarter of the Moon	Chi Zijian	People’s Literature Publishing House
1	2	9787530221532	2021-10	To Live (2021 Edition)	Yu hua	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
3	3	9787536692930	2008-01	The Three-Body Problem	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
6	4	9787530221396	2021-06	Ordinary Word (3 Volumes) (2021 Edition)	Lu Yao	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
11	5	9787500601593	2005-08	Red Crag	Luo Guangbin, Yang Yiyan	China Youth Press
4	6	9787536693968	2008-05	The Dark Forest	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
5	7	9787229030933	2010-11	Death’s End	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
8	8	9787544291170	2017-08	One Hundred Years of Solitude (50th Anniversary Edition)	Gabriel García Márquez	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
15	9	9787020002207	1998-07	Dream of the Red Chamber	Cao Xueqin	People’s Literature Publishing House
7	10	9787506331746	2005-05	Distant Savior	Dou Dou	The Writer’s Publishing House
10	11	9787544766500	2017-01	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	Yilin Press
29	12	9787020008742	1998-07	Water Margin	Shi Nai’an, Luo Guanzhong	People’s Literature Publishing House
12	13	9787530219218	2019-02	A Wavy Life	Mai Jia	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
14	14	9787540487645	2018-06	Moments We Shared	Zhang Jiajia	Hunan Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	15	9787533947354	2017-03	The Old Man and The Sea	Ernest Hemingway	Zhejiang Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	16	9787559465962	2022-05	Heliotrope & Zjz(Vol.2)	Ying Cheng	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	17	9787020008735	1998-07	Journey to the West	Wu Cheng’en	People’s Literature Publishing House
18	18	9787020090006	2012-07	Fortress Besieged	Qian Zhongshu	People’s Literature Publishing House
19	19	9787530221099	2021-02	Wencheng	Yu hua	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
16	20	9787506368698	2013-06	The World Under the Sky	Dou Dou	The Writer’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	21	9787020008728	1998-07	Romance of the Three Kingdoms	Luo Guanzhong	People’s Literature Publishing House
9	22	9787533966102	2021-12	Life and Death are Wearing Me Out	Mo Yan	Zhejiang Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	23	9787506394864	2017-09	Sophie’s World (New Edition)	Jostein Gaarder	The Writer’s Publishing House
21	24	9787208061644	2006-04	The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini	Shanghai People’s Publishing House
20	25	9787572602825	2021-08	Always Have, Always Will	Zhang Jiajia	Hunan Literature & Art Press
23	26	9787506344791	2008-12	Street Wizards	Feng Jicai	The Writer’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	27	9787533963354	2022-02	Memories of Jiang Nan	Wang Xufeng	Zhejiang Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	28	9787229100605	2015-10	The Three	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
13	29	9787544298995	2020-09	Miracles of the Namiya General Store (2020 Edition)	Keigo Higashino	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	30	9787506394314	2017-04	White Deer Plain	Chen Zhongshi	The Writer’s Publishing House

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OpenBook’s Nonfiction Bestsellers, July 2022

June 2022 Ranking	July 2022 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Chinese Publisher
11	1	9787559659385	2022-04	Minimalist Learning	Liao Heng	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
8	2	9787511320506	2012-08	Su Shu	Huang Shigong, Ding Minxiang	China Overseas Chinese Press
7	3	9787201161693	2020-08	Counselling for Toads: A Psychological Adventure	Robert de Board	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
9	4	9787561346259	2009-05	Yi Ching is Really to Understand	Zeng Shiqiang	Shaanxi Normal University Press
14	5	9787530848890	2010-01	Understand the Ways of the World Day by Day	Zhang Yan	Tianjin Science & Technology Press
Not Ranked	6	9787020116133	2016-06	Red Star Over China	Edgar Snow	People’s Literature Publishing House
13	7	9787557027063	2022-04	If History were a Group of Cats: Song, Liao, Jin Dynasty and the Western Xia Regime	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
10	8	9787111495482	2015-04	The Courage to Be Disliked	Ichiro Kishimi	China Machine Press
6	9	9787222204331	2021-11	Details of Law	Luo Xiang	Yunnan People’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	10	9787508653389	2015-07	The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II	Iris Chang	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
12	11	9787540484880	2018-01	The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo	Lin Yutang	Hunan Literature & Art Press
5	12	9787513349116	2022-05	A Lifelong Journey	Yu Minhong	New Star Press Co.Ltd
22	13	9787544276986	2019-10	Educated: A Memoir	Tara Westover	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	14	9787559662132	2022-06	Succeed by Others’ Strength	Jin Qiang Da Shu	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
17	15	9787557025847	2021-11	If History were a Group of Cats: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
Not Ranked	16	9787520802130	2018-05	Do Their Own Psychological Doctor	Mo Yu	China Business Publishing House
18	17	9787521603774	2019-08	The Faith as Premise of Freedom	Luo Xiang	China Legal Publishing House
20	18	9787559313652	2017-09	If History were a Group of Cats: Xia, Shang and Western Zhou Dynasty	Fei Zhi	Heilongjiang Fine Arts Press
3	19	9787570214488	2020-03	The Beautiful Song Poems in English and Chinese	Wu Yuyang	Changjiang Literature & Art Press Co.,Ltd.
2	20	9787570214471	2020-03	The Beautiful Tang Poems in English and Chinese	Lu Su	Changjiang Literature & Art Press Co.,Ltd.
4	21	9787570214495	2020-03	The Beautiful Book of Songs in English and Chinese	Yan Hong	Changjiang Literature & Art Press Co.,Ltd.
Not Ranked	22	9787010246758	2022-06	Xi Jinping’s footsteps (5 volumes)	Editing Group of This Book	People’s Publishing House
23	23	9787559330260	2018-06	If History were a Group of Cats: The Spring-autumn and Warring State Period	Fei Zhi	Heilongjiang Fine Arts Press
1	24	9787111551287	2016-10	Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise	Anders Ericsson, Robert Pool	China Machine Press
21	25	9787557024413	2021-05	If History were a Group of Cats: Prosperity of the Tang Dynasty	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
25	26	9787208171336	2021-08	In the Affair: Chinese Government and Economic Development	Lan Xiaohuan	Shanghai People’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	27	9787508680965	2017-12	Predictably Irrational (Revised Edition）	Dan Ariely	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
Not Ranked	28	9787555262688	2021-04	Danshari	He Quanfeng	Qingdao Publishing House
26	29	9787557017477	2019-02	If History were a Group of Cats: Qin, Chu, Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasty	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
28	30	9787557020149	2019-09	If History were a Group of Cats: Three Kingdoms	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House

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OpenBook’s Children’s Bestsellers, July 2022

June 2022 Ranking	July 2022 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Chinese Publisher
1	1	9787110103074	2022-02	Science Comics Loved by Pupils (4 volumes)	Sunbook	Popular Science Press
Not Ranked	2	9787516528495	2022-04	Comic Math Loved by Children (6 volumes)	Yakov Perelman, QINGLAN TUSHU	Aeronautics Industry Press
4	3	9787570711888	2021-12	Ultraman Series Photo Book for 55th Anniversary	Tsuburaya Productions	Anhui Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
3	4	9787513936668	2021-11	First Introduction to Law for Children	Cao Zhaopeng	Democracy and Construction Press
13	5	9787547261682	2019-07	Children, Read for Yourself	Yu Li	Jilin Literature & History Press
Not Ranked	6	9787544288590	2018-06	Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (2018 Edition)	Tetsuko Kuroyanagi	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
19	7	9787568290685	2020-11	The Classic of Mountains and Rivers for Kids	Xu Pingping	Beijing Institute of Technology Press
17	8	9787536574366	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Stratego	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
20	9	9787536574397	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Clever Little Prodigy	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
23	10	9787536574380	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Who’s the Smart Guy?	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
22	11	9787536574373	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: The Great Adventure of the Castle	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
5	12	9787556864454	2022-04	Treasure Hunting in Inner Mongolia	Jingding Comic	21st Century Press Group
Not Ranked	13	9787536593749	2020-05	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Game of the Wise	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
14	14	9787532767373	2014-08	Charlotte’s Web	Elwyn Brooks White	Shanghai Translation Publishing House
Not Ranked	15	9787533299224	2018-10	Fantastic Mr. Fox	Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake	Tomorrow Publishing House
Not Ranked	16	9787536593756	2020-05	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Password Discovery	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	17	9787534618727	1998-07	The Straw Hut	Cao Wenxuan	Jiangsu Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	18	9787536593459	2020-05	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: ‘Have a Meal’ Restaurant	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
12	19	9787521726473	2020-12	A Dog Named Money	Bodo Schafer	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
Not Ranked	20	9787536593442	2020-05	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: The Magic Lamp	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	21	9787558900648	2017-07	Winter of Three Hairs (With Chinese Pinyin)	Zhang Leping	Juvenile & Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	22	9787513721141	2021-12	Rainbow Bridge Good Emotions and Good Habits Formation (8 volumes)	Zhu Jiarui, Wang Shan	China Peace Publishing House
Not Ranked	23	9787201077642	2013-01	The Little Prince	Antoine de Saint	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
24	24	9787559654533	2021-09	Super Scholar: Physics	Xiang Hua	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
Not Ranked	25	9787536587731	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: Trouble of the New Deskmate	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	26	9787536587762	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: If I Have a Time Machine	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
21	27	9787570222551	2021-08	Tree Boy	Zhao Lihong	Changjiang Literature & Art Press Co.,Ltd.
Not Ranked	28	9787536587755	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: Secrets of Nature	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	29	9787536587748	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: A Lot of Fun	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	30	9787536587694	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: I am a Pupil	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House

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Foreign Author Fiction Bestsellers, July 2022

June 2022 Ranking	July 2022 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Author nationality	Chinese Publisher
1	1	9787544291170	2017-08	One Hundred Years of Solitude (50th Anniversary Edition)	Gabriel García Márquez	Colombia	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
2	2	9787544766500	2017-01	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	United States of America	Yilin Press
Not Ranked	3	9787533947354	2017-03	The Old Man and The Sea	Ernest Miller Hemingway	United States of America	Zhejiang Literature & Art Press
9	4	9787506394864	2017-09	Sophie’s World (New Edition)	Jostein Gaarder	Norway	The Writer’s Publishing House
4	5	9787208061644	2006-04	The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini	United States of America	Shanghai People’s Publishing House
3	6	9787544298995	2020-09	Miracles of the Namiya General Store (2020 Edition)	Keigo Higashino	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
5	7	9787573500977	2022-04	Crystal Spiral	Keigo Higashino	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	8	9787544291163	2017-08	Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Edition)	Keigo Higashino	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	9	9787544282086	2016-02	The Moon and Sixpence	William Somerset Maugham	Britain	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
8	10	9787532175512	2020-05	13 Steps	Kazuaki Takano	Japan	Shanghai Literature & Art Press
10	11	9787540485337	2018-03	Tsubaki Stationery Store	Ito Ogawa	Japan	Hunan Literature & Art Press
7	12	9787521200836	2018-08	Thiaoouba Prophecy	Michael Desmarquet	Australia	The Writer’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	13	9787532761760	2013-08	The Outsider	Albert Camus	France	Shanghai Translation Publishing House
11	14	9787544297059	2020-03	Love in the Time of Cholera (3 Million Sold Anniversary Edition)	Gabriel García Márquez	Colombia	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	15	9787559614711	2018-01	Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit	Jeanette Winterson	Britain	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
18	16	9787539983295	2015-10	Foundation (Revised Edition)	Isaac Asimov	United States of America	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press
16	17	9787541160912	2021-12	Fish Have No Feet	Jón Kalman Stefánsson	Iceland	Sichuan Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	18	9787532761753	2013-08	The Plague	Albert Camus	France	Shanghai Translation Publishing House
12	19	9787201112695	2017-03	Siddhartha	Hermann Hesse	Germany	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
15	20	9787549637270	2022-04	The Namesake	Atsushi Shimomura	Japan	Wenhui Publishing House

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Foreign Author Nonfiction Bestsellers, July 2022

June 2022 Ranking	July 2022 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Author nationality	Chinese Publisher
2	1	9787201161693	2020-08	Counselling for Toads: A Psychological Adventure	Robert de Board	Britain	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
10	2	9787020116133	2016-06	Red Star Over China	Edgar Snow	United States of America	People’s Literature Publishing House
3	3	9787111495482	2015-04	The Courage to Be Disliked	Ichiro Kishimi	Japan	China Machine Press
Not Ranked	4	9787508653389	2015-07	The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II	Iris Chang	United States of America	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
4	5	9787544276986	2019-10	Educated: A Memoir	Tara Westover	United States of America	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
1	6	9787111551287	2016-10	Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise	Anders Ericsson, Robert Pool	United States of America	China Machine Press
5	7	9787508680965	2017-12	Predictably Irrational (Revised Edition）	Dan Ariely	United States of America	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
6	8	9787521733679	2021-09	The Most Tender Upbringing: Be a Gentle but Steadfast Parent	Oh Eun-young	Korea	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
7	9	9787550268517	2016-07	Positive Discipline	Jane Nelsen	United States of America	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
Not Ranked	10	9787505732124	2013-12	Decisive Moments in History	Stefan Zweig	Austria	China Friendship Publishing Company
Not Ranked	11	9787555262800	2017-12	The Power of Insensitivity	Junichi Watanabe	Japan	Qingdao Publishing House
Not Ranked	12	9787571311728	2020-08	Oceans: Exploring the Hidden Depths of the Underwater World	Paul Rose, Anne Laking	Britain	Jiangsu Science & Technology Press
Not Ranked	13	9787571311735	2020-08	Earth: The Power of the Planet	Iain Stewart, John Lynch	Britain	Jiangsu Science & Technology Press
Not Ranked	14	9787571311711	2020-08	Life: Extraordinary Animals, Extreme Behaviour	Martha Holmes, Michael Gunton	Britain	Jiangsu Science & Technology Press
12	15	9787511714152	2012-08	How to Talk so Teens will Listen and Listen so Teens will Talk	Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish	United States of America	Central Compilation & Translation Press
Not Ranked	16	9787521741124	2022-04	The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness	Eric Jorgenson	United States of America	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
Not Ranked	17	9787208150188	2018-07	Thus Spoke Zarathustra	Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche	Germany	Shanghai People’s Publishing House
17	18	9787100186438	2020-08	Republic	Plato	Ancient Greece	The Commercial Press Co.Ltd
15	19	9787522200514	2021-05	Nonviolent Communication	Marshall B.Rosenberg	United States of America	Huaxia Publishing House
Not Ranked	20	9787505737488	2016-12	What Life Should Mean to You	Alfred Adler	Austria	China Friendship Publishing Company

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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. 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.

As of January 1, 2020, OpenBook monitored more than 10,000 online and offline bookstores.

The online channel includes digital retailers such as large self-operated online stores, platform stores, and small- and medium-sized stores. The offline channels include 4,495 bookstores. Coverage includes most of the state-owned and influential privately owned bookstores in 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet are not included in OpenBook’s system.

In 2019, OpenBook tracked around 71.72 billion RMB in sales (US$10.1 billion).

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 500 or more publishers in operation today. Most of them, Jiang Boyan 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.

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More China bestseller reports from Publishing Perspectives are here, and more on the Chinese book publishing market is here.

More from us on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here.