Recent months have seen well-known independent bookstores close in Hong Kong after they were suspected of breaking various laws, but novel business models are seeing new ones emerge.
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The Covid-19 pandemic and National Security Law (NSL) have cast a large shadow over the Hong Kong Book Fair which opened on July 14 and runs until Tuesday.
It was the first to be held for two years. The 2020 fair was scheduled twice last year but cancelled both times because of the pandemic. The fair is the most important event of the year for the city’s publishers, giving them a sales platform they can find nowhere else. They offer price reductions to encourage people to spend more.
The travel restrictions caused by the pandemic have cut the number of outside visitors by at least 100,000; many Hong Kong book-lovers are also staying away because they are nervous about mixing at close quarters with so many people. As a result, publishers expect the numbers and sales to fall from the pre-pandemic level in 2019, with sales possibly falling by up to 33 per cent.