Whither the Book Retailing Industry in China: A Historical Reflection

This article reviews the evolution of the book retailing industry in the mainland area of the People’s Republic of China since the late 1970s. It charts the history and development of the three principal types of booksellers in the general interest book market—the state-owned Xinhua bookstores, private booksellers, and online retailers. In doing this, the article hopes to consider some of the industry’s latest developments and its future by reflecting on them in a historical light.

Keywords

Bookselling, Xinhua bookstore, Private bookseller, Online retailer, Revival, China

Journal Title

Publishing Research Quarterly

Journal ISSN

1053-8801
1936-4792

Volume Title

34

Publisher

Springer Nature

Publisher DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-018-9569-0

Rights and licensing

Except where otherwised noted, this item's license is described as Attribution 4.0 International

Collections

Scholarly Works - Sociology