The 40th edition of the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) wrapped up its five-day run on June 21. Publishing transformation and AI were the hot topics at forums, while IP licensing, ACG (animation, comics, and games), and digital publishing had an expanded presence compared to previous editions.

In China, the term “digital publishing” encompasses everything that is not in print format, including animation, app-/platform-based services, audio books, e-books, gaming, micro-drama, and web literature. Increasingly, the Chinese publishing market is focused on content and IP, and not just on print-based publications. For example, popular web novels are turned into TV dramas (or micro-dramas, mostly for mobile phone users with short attention spans) or animation, and then into print books, games, and merchandise—or vice versa, with print books and games adapted and expanded into dramas, forming a content creation loop. For the children’s segment, digital publishing is now centered on audiobooks, e-learning platforms, and knowledge-based services to support children, educators, and parents.

The biggest industry gamechanger in recent months has been the implementation of the Regulations on Promoting Reading for All by the government in February 2026. It mandates improved public library services, enhanced digital content, and specialized support for reading initiatives in rural areas, former revolutionary bases, ethnic regions, border areas, and less-developed regions, as well as more equitable access to books for minors, people with disabilities, and the elderly. It also encourages publishers, libraries, bookstores, and social organizations to collaborate and promote reading. This fuels state-funded demand for content—both print and digital—as well as new opportunities for integrating AI tools and online distribution strategies to reach and engage with educators, parents, and children.

In 2025, the children’s book segment accounted for 28.79% of the overall Chinese book retail market, marking an increase of 0.63% over the previous year, according to Beijing-based OpenBook, a clearinghouse for publishing statistics. Pop science remained the biggest category (at 29.27%) since surpassing children’s literature back in 2021. Within the children’s book segment, literature and picture books have continued to decline, going from a combined 41.16% in 2020 to 31.71% last year. The fourth category was self-help, mostly in mental health and social-emotional learning, and it has grown from 2.02% in 2020 to 9.07% in 2025.

The rise of functionally oriented books—pop science, self-help, and social-emotional learning—reflects Chinese parents’ anxiety-driven book purchasing, which favors problem-solving and education-based publications. Last year, the children’s book segment and test prep/study guides combined accounted for more than 55% of the total Chinese retail book sales, which Deep Market Insights and Statista valued at $14.67 billion and $15.73 billion, respectively.

Exhibitor Insights

The Chinese children’s book market remains attractive despite its sluggish recovery after the pandemic and the country’s historically low birthrate. (There were 7.92 million births in 2025, compared to 9.54 million in the previous year, and around 270 million people under the age of 18.) Exhibitors, new and seasoned, continue to flock to China and its book fairs to build partnerships, distribute original editions, and sell rights.

At Belgium-based Clavis Publishing’s booth, the lovable, flop-eared rabbit Ricky dominated the conversation. The social-emotional themes that Ricky (or rather his creator Guido van Genechten) explores and shares have struck a chord with the Chinese audience for a long time. “This is the 25th anniversary of Ricky, with books now available in 35 language editions, and so we have this booth and various activities dedicated to him,” said sales manager Lisa Hong, who was also busy managing Clavis’s special display in the Picture Book Exhibition Hall. “We are promoting our new bilingual English-Chinese series Stories for Growing Minds at this fair,” said Hong, whose team has sold several hundred sets of the first four-title volume. “Chinese parents have been buying our English titles such as the World of Wonder series, but we want to give the market a different option with the bilingual edition.”

Hong finds the current trend of parents, in China and elsewhere, spending an inordinate amount of time on social media very worrying. “That means they are not reading or buying books, for themselves or for their children. And if this persists, then children are also going to turn to mobile devices instead of reading. At Clavis, we aim to publish more titles so that children have lots to choose from while encouraging more reading.”

For James Hall, sales director for global content licensing at Highlights, there is a growing demand for screen-free reading experiences in China. “This year marks the company’s 80th birthday, so we [the staff] as well as our readers are growing up with Highlights. We have booth visitors who grew up with our titles and are now buying for their children. It is a generational thing: readers trust Highlights and treat the brand like a friend that they can introduce to others.” There’s still a focus on STEAM in China, Hall said. “We offer new and fun learning experiences on paper and not through the latest algorithms. Our products go beyond language and learning. They also promote social and emotional skills so that children can become their best selves.”

Owning the IPs makes a lot of difference, said Mia Greenblott, senior manager for strategic partnerships at Highlights. “We can work with our partners and adapt the content accordingly to suit local needs; we do not sell curriculum. This brings about new opportunities and offerings that we can also adapt or adopt for other countries. We are also learning and growing with the market.”

At Seoul-based Seed Learning, better geopolitical relations between China and South Korea make for better sales and easier communications with their Chinese business partners and readers. “Our Good Writers series is gaining popularity, especially with teachers looking for materials to help them teach writing,” said sales manager Jun Kang, adding that Paul Nation’s titles, especially those on vocabulary, remain his bestsellers in China. “I am considering doing a seminar for teachers at BIBF next year focusing on Paul’s titles, such as Timed Reading for Fluency and similar lower-level titles.”

English language learning and teaching remains big in China. “Over here, the focus and demand are on skills-based titles—for reading, speaking, and writing, for instance—instead of coursebooks. Thus, we are introducing our new Classic Readers series that offer 200 titles, mostly fiction, in 10 different levels. We see what works here and adapt our publishing program accordingly,” Jun said.

Visitors were attracted to the big and colorful posters of Geronimo Stilton, WinxClub, and Mermaid Magic at the Rainbow booth. Based in Loreto, Italy, Rainbow owns the IPs of these three big brands. “We have just started introducing the publishing line of WinxClub to China,” said VP for publishing Sarah Sagripanti. “But Geronimo is known here. In fact, we hosted a live-stream interview of its creator Elisabetta Dami with Chinese influencer Wang Fang in Italy a few months ago.”

With Italy as the guest of honor at BIBF next year, Sagripanti saw even more opportunities for Rainbow. “We are not just about books; we offer digital media and licensing. We are working with our Chinese partners who are asking for support in new media. But the main thing is to be here at BIBF to present ourselves and our products, and meet with current and potential partners.”

On the rights side, Beijing-based chief representative Jackie Huang of Andrew Nurnberg Associates found that while pop-science titles from the U.S. sell well in China, YA titles are not a good fit. “Romance in YA titles is simply not acceptable to parents and educators here. On the other hand, European titles—in children’s, literature, and psychology segments, for instance—have done very well in the past year.”

Huang has been busy proposing longer rights contract terms to her clients. “Chinese editors are too preoccupied in developing homegrown titles—especially big series on culture and history, and new Ips—to work on translated titles. They are also too busy promoting their titles on social media and working with influencers. So I’m suggesting changing the usual five-year contracts to eight years to make the deal viable.”

Chinese publishers have been very active in selling rights to Asian countries in recent years, Huang noted. “Children’s books from China have grown in quality and variety, with much lower rights fees that make them more affordable to Asian publishers. Such works are now in direct competition with overseas titles. At the same time, content from overseas tends to be short, whereas the Chinese market wants much longer series. In this regard, the Japanese and Korean publishers have the right idea,” she said. “They know and understand the gap that exists between Chinese market demand and Western/overseas offerings, and so they modify their titles accordingly to suit Chinese and Asian markets.”

Next year, the BIBF will be held at the same venue from June 16 to 21.