The 29th edition of the Beijing International Book Fair concluded its first in-person event in three and a half years on June 18. The four-day run had a new venue—the China National Convention Center, which hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics—and was held this month (instead of its usual August dates).

Children’s titles, which account for the biggest segment in the Chinese book market, continue to be the focus at the fair, which saw more than 2,500 exhibitors, of which 60% were from overseas, and well over 200,000 titles. There were two special exhibits on children’s books: the Picture Book Exhibition, under the theme of “Open picture books, see the world,” presented original titles from 15 countries, while the Ananas International Illustrations Exhibition displayed works by Chinese and international artists, thus offering them the opportunity to connect directly with publishers and other content/media companies. Then there was the Children’s Publishing Forum, which is one of BIBF’s signature events, a space to address hot-button issues while exchanging ideas and insights on the book segment.

Philippe Werck, publisher of Belgium-based Clavis, who spoke at the forum, offered a synopsis of the talks. “The discussion revolved around three major topics. The first is about the need to produce titles that address and protect the mental health of Chinese children and youths after such a long period of pandemic lockdown,” he said. “Next is the domination of short-video e-commerce—now accounting for about 30% of the total book sales in China—that comes with big discounts. Since royalties are based on net sales, such deep discounts mean lower incomes for authors and illustrators, which in turn will affect the quality of works and production.”

Then there is the gaming addiction problem coupled with the overwhelming use of digital devices, which will, over time, affect reading habits and skills among children. “This is not a problem just in China but is becoming a global issue,” Werck said, adding that “the consensus among publishers and experts is to deploy more intuitive digital tools to attract children and youths to read. Basically, the approach is ‘don’t fight it, adopt it.’ ”

The gaming addiction problem saw the Chinese government start to impose strict limits on gaming time for minors in September 2019. Currently, those under 18 are restricted to just one hour of gaming, three nights a week. There are louder calls for stronger limits and countermeasures, including deploying facial recognition software to prevent children from playing too long or late at night.

Werck’s main takeaway from the forum and other networking events was that China is fighting to keep the price level high enough to motivate publishers to continue investing in, and producing, quality children’s books. “This is not easy to accomplish. But the Chinese book market is very big. In Europe, children’s books are about 20% of the total market. Here, it is nearly 40%. Chinese parents want to invest in their children’s education—more than ever before, and more than the rest of the world. However, intense market competition and deep retail discounts have significantly affected publisher margins.”

Business-wise, Werck and his team had sold rights to 15 titles from Steffie Padmos’s Super Animals series to China Children’s Press and Publication Group prior to BIBF. “Then, we signed an official contract on The Little Piglet series by Francesca Pirrone with Hebei Publishing and sold 10 titles of our Want to Know series to Beijing Qu Yixian—and that’s just to name a few. In total, we sold the rights of more than 150 titles at the fair—the best result since we first appeared in this market in 2012,” Werck said, adding that visitors were drawn to Roel Seidell’s The Yippee Stick, Effie Lada’s In My Dreams, and Federico van Lunter’s Furry Friends series at the booth. “I fully expect to sell these titles very soon.”

Aside from publishers, Werck’s visitors also included vloggers and bloggers, who sell his English-language books directly to the Chinese market. “They are picky when it comes to selecting titles. But once the selection is done, they often sell fast and very successfully. A case in point: one vlogger sold 1,600 copies of our author-illustrator Mack van Gageldonk’s books within 10 minutes.”

With prebooked back-to-back meetings at the fair, there was little time for managing director Kate Wilson of Nosy Crow to walk the floor and gauge the crowd. “My impression is that the Chinese publishing industry was out in the same kind of force that we had seen at BIBF in the pre-pandemic years. But the shift from the usual August dates exerted a toll on the attendance of U.K. publishers, with only three exhibitors using the Publishers Association stand—Arcturus, Usborne, and us.” The new venue, she said, “is very good: more central, more modern, and has a conference hotel next door.”

At the fair, Wilson saw very strong interest in the science titles associated with the company’s just-announced children’s publishing partnership with the University of Cambridge. “Nonfiction and picture books in series continue to be requested by most Chinese publishers. But there is more interest in chapter books and middle grade fiction than we had seen previously.”

A Horse Called Now—a picture book written by Ruth Doyle and illustrated by Alexandra Finkeldey about overcoming worries and living in the present moment—which will be published in January 2024, was very popular at the Nosy Crow booth. “Among the fiction titles, The Boy Who Saved a Bear, the latest in the award-winning tetralogy by Nizrana Farook, garnered a lot of interest,” senior rights manager Lena Petzke said.

The Nosy Crow team was happy to see so many trusted partners and new publishing houses using the opportunity to visit them at the stand. “It was great to check in and hear how the publishers have successfully managed the challenges during the last few years,” Petzke added. “Now that travel to Beijing and Shanghai is possible again, we certainly hope to establish a new regular book fair schedule.”

The overall Chinese book market, currently valued at CNY 87.1 billion (or approximately, $12.1 billion), saw its largest decline in nearly a decade in 2022 due to the pandemic lockdowns. According to OpenBook, a clearinghouse for publishing statistics in Beijing, the book market declined 11.7% year-over-year. The children’s book segment had a nearly 5% drop in sales. Meanwhile, online platforms continue to dominate over bricks-and-mortar outlets with short-video e-commerce (on TikTok, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat, for instance) fast becoming the new channel for book marketing and retail. In the children’s book segment, short-video e-commerce brought in 45.6% of its sales last year.

Werck found the atmosphere at BIBF similar to the Bologna fair in March. “Everyone was just so happy to meet again after three and a half years. There was great enthusiasm and desire to do business. Publishers who couldn’t make it here missed a huge opportunity.” He added, “The Chinese children’s book market is presently challenged by deep discounting practices, but this situation will resolve and stabilize soon. Its future still looks great and we are delighted to be a part of it.”

Next year’s Beijing International Book Fair will run from June 19 to 23.