At the 40th edition of the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), which ran June 17–21, digital publishing and cross-media adaptation were the hot topics at various forums and special exhibits. The event had around 1,700 exhibitors from 82 countries and hosted nearly 1,000 cultural events around Beijing.

Many exhibitors that PW talked to were amazed by the growth of the country’s digital publishing segment. In China, the term “digital publishing” encompasses everything from audiobooks and e-books to app-based services, micro-dramas, and web literature. At BIBF, this segment’s growth and influence has resulted in a dedicated exhibition hall that hosted digital players such as NetEase, Tencent, and Fanqie Novel, which is owned by TikTok parent company ByteDance.

Increasingly, the Chinese publishing market is focused on content and IP instead just paper-based publications. For instance, popular web novels are turned into animated series or TV dramas (or micro-dramas, mostly for mobile phone users with extra-short attention spans), 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. Consequently, this year’s fair featured a dedicated IP Licensing Zone, an expanded ComicHub, and a greater presence of animation, comics, and games.

Amid this digital transformation, in February the Chinese government implemented its “Regulations on Promoting Reading for All,” which aim to foster a “reading-oriented” society by mandating improved public library services and specialized support for reading initiatives in rural areas, former revolutionary bases, ethnic enclaves, and less-developed regions, as well as more equitable access to books for minors, people with disabilities, and the elderly.

The regulations also encourage publishers, libraries, bookstores, and social organizations to work together to promote reading, creating state-funded demand for both print and digital content, as well as new opportunities for integrating AI tools and online distribution strategies to reach and engage with educators, parents, and children.

Perspectives from exhibitors

Among the exhibitors at this year’s BIBF was the San Rafael, Calif.–based pop culture publisher Insight Editions.

Associate director of foreign rights Chris Parnell called the event “a great venue to meet publishers and editors that we don’t normally get to meet, build rapport, and understand market needs through exchanges as well as bookstore visits.”

He said that Insight’s top sellers in China are those related to the Harry Potter IP such as Magical Moments and Artifacts of the Wizarding World, as well as “mysteries and gaming titles, especially those on League of Legends. Arcane, for instance, is huge in China as does Minecraft.”

Parnell noted, however, that “offers to buy rights are coming in slower compared to previous years due to macroeconomic and geopolitical issues,” adding that China is among his top five overseas markets and continues to grow.

U.K.-based publisher ACA Publishing Limited, which has a catalog of around 150 titles, was also in attendance. “We bring the best of Chinese fiction to English-speaking readers, thus offering the reading public new voices and diversity,” said marketing director Daniel Li, recipient of the 2026 London Book Fair Trailblazer Award.

“As for BIBF,” Li added, “I see more energy this time than, say, three years ago. Publishing is being transformed right here and there are much to learn from these publishers. Overall, I’m optimistic about the publishing industry—here and in the Anglophone trade market.”

On the rights side, Beijing-based chief representative Jackie Huang of the London-based Andrew Nurnberg Associates found that while pop-science titles from the U.S. work (and sell) well in China, its YA titles are not a good fit.

“Romance in YA titles is simply not acceptable to parents and educators over here,” she noted. “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 promoting Li Weiyi’s trilogy/memoir on raising a wolf, as well as proposing longer rights contract terms to her clients. “Chinese editors are too preoccupied with developing homegrown titles and new IPs to work on translated titles,” she said. “So I’m suggesting extending the usual five-year contracts to eight years to make the process more viable.”

The fair will return to the same venue next year from June 16–20.