The Beijing International Book Fair wants to leave the pandemic behind

The 30th edition of the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) kicked off this week with much excitement. It returned to its pre-pandemic five-day schedule and took place from June 19 to 23 at the China National Convention Center in Beijing Olympic Park. The first three days of the fair are dedicated to trade visitors, the rest of the fair is open to the general public. Saudi Arabia was chosen as this year’s guest of honor.

Moving to the current venue last year and changing the date from August to June “is our way of saying goodbye to the end of the pandemic while signaling the beginning of a new chapter for the fair,” said Lin Liying, president of China National Publications Import & Export Co., which organizes BIBF. The pandemic, she added, “has brought many challenges to the publishing industry. But with challenges come opportunities. One thing is certain: change is the status quo, and we must look at both sides and look forward to the possibilities. BIBF moves forward with hope and welcomes the changes.”

The move and new schedule seem to have worked well so far. Fifteen countries or regions are exhibiting for the first time this year, including Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar and Slovakia. There are also 11 additional international pavilions, and Italy, Japan, Malaysia and the UK have expanded their stand space. In total, BIBF counted around 1,600 exhibitors, of which 1,050 are from overseas and 150 are exhibiting for the first time.

The fair, Lin said, is “considering adding more themed events — besides the Cookbooks Show, the Illustrators’ Exhibition and the Picture Book Fair, for example — to bring content creators and publishers together with the reading public. We hope to inspire new ideas for unique content while motivating the public to learn and read more,” she added, noting that events like the Cookbooks Show can help facilitate intercultural communication and exchange.

This year, BIBF is hosting several major conferences, namely the PubTech Conference, the World Children’s Book Forum and the International Publishing Forum. The second edition of PubTech took place on the first day of the show and, unsurprisingly, was mainly about AI. Speakers, including those from Elsevier (Greater China), Peking University and Shanghai Data Exchange, focused on the use of AI for activities such as editing and proofreading, assisting with content development and predicting reading or search preferences. The underlying message of the programming was positive, not fearful, insisting that AI is there to help, not to replace humans, and that AI, properly managed and trained, can be an efficient and reliable tool in content editing, creation and planning for the publishing industry.

As for the state of the Chinese book market as a whole, it is still suffering from the after-effects of the pandemic and the ongoing lockdown. According to OpenBook, book sales peaked at around 102.27 billion yen (about $14 billion) in 2019. Last year, they were only 91.2 billion yen ($12.5 billion).

Sales through online platforms continue to outperform brick-and-mortar stores in the country, while e-commerce using short videos – such as on TikTok, Xiaohongshu and WeChat – is quickly becoming the most important channel for online book marketing and sales. Online platforms now account for at least two-thirds of all book sales in China and therefore have enormous power to boost sales through deep discount policies.

For publishers, discounts of more than 60% are a losing proposition, regardless of the potential sales volume that can be generated through such promotions. These concerns led some publishers to boycott e-commerce platform JD.com’s 618 Shopping Festival, which ran from June 1 to 18 (hence the name “618”) and offered discounts of up to 80%. It was the second-largest shopping event in China after Singles Day in November. Online influencers have also faced heavy criticism for their extreme discounting practices, which ranged from selling titles for under 10 yen ($1.38) to giving away books for as little as 1 yen (14 cents).

Despite the current downturn, China remains a huge book market for all publishers. BIBF visitors are confident that sales will soon pick up again.