With physical retail plummeting and even digital retail growth slowing, 2020 became the first year in which Beijing OpenBook tracked a downturn in the Chinese book market since 2000.
At the train station in Suzhou, west of Shanghai, on January 10. Image – iStockphoto: Robert Wray
Overall 2020 Downturn in China: 5.08 Percent
The annual conference produced by Beijing OpenBook familiar to our readers for its research in our China bestsellers series this year has reflected, predictably, on the instability of a unique year.
Titled “Crisis and Changes,” the 2020 report on China’s book market was released in a lengthy broadcast with more than 19,000 viewers at the time and at least 25,000 more following its original airing.