Digital wave sweeps Guangzhou bookshop into discard bin

A digital revolution is overthrowing China's traditional reading habits, and one of the early casualties is a well-known Guangzhou bookshop.

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August 1, 2010

Article by adp news

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A digital revolution is overthrowing China’s traditional reading habits, and one of the early casualties is a well-known Guangzhou bookshop.

The total value of digital publications – on the internet, mobile phones, e-books and computer-based reading software – overtook that of traditional print publications on the mainland for the first time last year, according to a report by the General Administration of Press and Publication released this week.

Fan Weiping, a director of the administration, said total sales of digital reading material had reached 79.9 billion yuan (HK$91.6 billion) last year and were growing rapidly.

In the same vein, a recent nationwide survey by the Chinese Institute of Publishing Science found that nearly a quarter of the more than 20,000 people it surveyed, aged between 18 and 70, now read primarily in digital formats.

The trend is even more obvious among young readers. Half of those aged under 29 read digital content.

The survey also found that 91 per cent of readers said they would not buy printed books if they could read them in digital form.

Joint Publishing (HK) – one of the most popular book retailers in Guangzhou – announced two weeks ago that it would shut its flagship store in the city and staged a fire sale of its remaining stock. It cited high rent, a lack of customers and changing reading habits among young readers as reasons for its closure.

Established in 1994, the store has long been regarded as one of the city’s best and is one of the few mainland shops that offers a wide range of books in foreign languages. Its fortunes have waned in recent years as more and more people have opted to read online or on mobile devices.

It is not the only bookshop on the mainland that is struggling.

Chen Fuming, a senior manager at one of the biggest private bookstore chains in Guangzhou, said the industry was facing what could well be its toughest test.

“Even I myself now prefer to read fiction with my mobile phone,” Chen said. “It’s cheap and convenient.”

Nearly half the country’s private bookshops have closed in the past 10 years and the situation is getting worse, according to recent mainland media reports quoting the Book Industry Chamber of Commerce under the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.

Competition is also hotting up in the mainland’s e-book market, with Shanda Literature launching its new Bambook reader, which promises access to what it claims is the country’s biggest digital library, with three million books and more than 1,000 journals. It is taking on Hanvon Technology, which has as much as 90 per cent of the market. Hanvon sold 270,000 e-book readers last year and expects to sell two million this year.

In Joint Publishing’s Guangzhou Book Mall store, one reader with a basket of books said she regretted the disappearance of such an upmarket bookstore, but the growth of the e-book sector meant she was not particularly sad about it.

“Many imported books I could only find here are now available online, with even better discounts,” she said. “It is regrettable that we’re losing this store, because I have been a regular customer for more than a decade, but it is no longer the only place where readers can find the books they want.”