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Publishers in makeover

By Liu Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-27 07:55

A girl reads a copy of Moonwalk in Paradise: The Michael Jackson Biography inside Wangfujing Bookstore in downtown Beijing. Market-oriented reform is enabling the publishing industry to respond to market needs more quickly. [Asianewsphoto]

Michael Jackson, the "king of pop," died on June 25. Just six days later, the 130,000-word book, Moonwalk in Paradise: The Michael Jackson Biography, was on bookshelves in China.

The "instant book" was published by China's Xiandai Publishing House and instantly became a best-seller.

"We have done a nice job in quickly responding to market needs," said Zang Yongqing, general editor of Beijing-based Xiandai.

In fact, Moonwalk in Paradise remains on best-seller lists.

Xiandai, a State-owned publisher, is abiding by the government's call for market-focused reform in the publishing industry to create a more competitive sector with a global reach.

The General Administration of Press and Publication, or GAPP, China's publishing industry regulatory body, released the "Guidelines on Further Reform of the Press and Publication System" in May.

The guidelines call on the country's mostly State-owned publishers to make the transition from government-supported enterprises to for-profit, market-based businesses.

The government is allowing private sector investments, which the government anticipates will be accompanied by marketing and market-minded management expertise.

A State-owned publishing unit now is allowed to sell as much as 49 percent of its holdings to domestic private investors.

The guidelines also allow foreign investments, but no detailed provisions accompanied those guidelines.

State-owned presses can also attract capital by being listed on securities exchanges or by joining other State-owned companies in bids to go public.

The government also is encouraging partnerships to combine well-run publishing businesses, apparently hoping that another result is the demise of poor-quality enterprises.

GAPP Minister Liu Binjie said six or seven publishing giants, each with assets and annual revenues exceeding 10 billion yuan, will be established to compete globally within the next three to five years.

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"We introduced this reform to speed up the development of the press and publishing industry and to allow the culture of the Chinese nation to be recognized worldwide and disseminated around the globe," Liu said.

There are 579 State-owned publishing houses in China. By January, 260 had implemented market reforms or removed themselves from government support systems by setting up new financing and operations models.

Among the publishing houses taking the lead is Shanghai-listed Time Publishing & Media Co Ltd, a unit of the State-owned Anhui Publishing Group in Anhui province.

The State-owned Anhui Publishing Group, which specializes in the publication of technology-related books and periodicals, obtained a back door listing in January 2008.

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