The 24th National Book Trade Fair kicked off in Guiyang, capital city of Guizhou province, on Aug 1. Guizhou residents responded enthusiastically, causing many types of books to sell out within the first few days.
More than 800 publishers were in attendance, and 2,395 exhibitors displayed books to the public.
The China International Publishing Group presented more than 1,000 kinds of books during the fair. Roughly 300 of them were sold out within two days.
 |
| Many books from the China International Publishing Group are sold out.(Photo/Zeng Jun and Lu Lu) |
"We didn't expect people in Guizhou to be so enthusiastic about books," said Li Kaisheng, vice president of New World Press, affiliated with China International Publishing Group, during the fair.
"At first, we thought that since Guizhou is a developing province, it may have limited demand for books," he said.
"I have been to the book fair in Heilongjiang province and Ningxia Hui autonomous region, and the sales volumes there were bleak," a stand staffer said, mentioning that at those fairs, only 5 percent of their books were sold.
 |
| A girl at the book fair browses educational books.（Photo/Zeng Jun and Lu Lu) |
"We are not sure whether there is a culture difference between South and North China, but our books sell very well in Guizhou."
At the Hong Kong exhibition booth, customers generally find the book prices high, but still alluring. Books at the booth, mainly published by the Sino United Publishing (Holdings) Ltd, cover children's literature, Cantonese recipes and entertainment.
Staff at the Hong Kong booth explained to readers: "As Hong Kong books are imported, we are sorry that the high price cannot be avoided."
"We did not expect the entertainment books to be so popular in Guizhou, but we now have confidence in entering the Guizhou market," said Zhou Lian, vice president of China Business Trading Company, who introduced Hong Kong books to Guizhou for the first time.
Li is optimistic about Guizhou's book market and hopes to cooperate further with local book dealers in Guizhou.
