Fairgoers navigate the halls of the Beijing International Book Fair at last year’s instalment
Lei Jianhua, Beijing International Book Fair director, is in bullish mood ahead of this year’s event
Chile, Croatia, Belarus, Oman, Ethiopia, Kenya and Jamaica.” The overarching themes of BIBF 2025 continue those of its previous post-pandemic fairs: technology, the children’s market and education/academic publishing, particularly in the Scientific, Technical and Medical (STM) arena. The latter corresponds to the surging STM sector in China (see Caroline Sutton interview, pp50-51), and BIBF will kick off with two linked, day-long pre-fair events that touch on this part of the market: the third annual PubTech Conference and the inaugural STM APAC (Asia-Pacific) conference. Lei adds that, in addition to those
BIBF’s Essential Events
The Beijing International Publishing Forum 19th June, 09:30 BIBF’s annual marquee event will be a full day “guided by a focus on next-generation productivity and expanding global publishing partnerships” and will “delve into the evolving interplay between technology and publishing, AI’s role in integrated publishing workflows… and best practices in copyright protection”. Plenty of the big beasts of global publishing will be on hand, including Chang Bo, president of China Publishing Group; Zhang Chaoyang, chairman of Phoenix Publishing and Media Group; Princeton University Press director Christie Henry; and International Publishers Association president Gvantsa Jobava.
conferences, BIBF is “launching a new focus area on academic and digital publishing, with 200 global libraries and research institutions represented. We hope to foster international discussion and co-operation around academic digital content”. It is an apropos time to foster greater co-operation between Higher Education publishers and China’s libraries: a 2025 report in the Chinese Journal of Library and Information Science stated that the country’s university libraries are seeing a massive move from print: in the most recent annual figures, a record 65.8% of institutions’ literature budgets was spent on digital products.
T
he children’s tranche at the fair has a significant portion focusing on the more traditional side of the market, such as the 10th annual BIBF Picture Book Fair, the hall
devoted to younger readers’ publishing that has a mix of professional events and some aimed at kids. The latter includes storytimes, gaming and book launches. Indeed, if you are interested, what might be the hottest ticket on the Saturday (it certainly will not bring up the rear) is the debut of the latest Chinese-language Butt Detective title, the wildly popular picture book series based on a Japanese anime whose main (Sherlock Holmes-esque) character has, well, a backside for a head. While fun and games will be at the Picture
Book Fair, a more serious side will be on show at the half-day World Children’s Book Forum on the last professional day of the fair. The
BIBF’s Essential Events
forum will largely explore the intersection of kids’ books and technology, and how that relates not only to publishing but also educational public policy. A number of international big- hitters are lined up to speak, including the UN’s under-secretary general for global communica- tions Melissa Fleming; kids’ publishing veteran and current president of China’s chapter of the International Board on Books for Young People, Zhang Mingzhou; and Elena Pasoli, the director of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
Value sales last year in China, according to OpenBook
£11.6bn 80
Nations with a presence at this year’s BIBF
2025 PubTech Conference 16th June, 09.00 BIBF launched this conference about “empowering publishing’s future” in its first post- pandemic IRL fair. Three years on, the event feels more vital than ever, given how we are at the trade’s (and humanity’s?) crucial point in the development of AI. For the first time, PubTech will focus solely on the academic sector, perhaps reflecting BIBF’s broader drift in 2025, but it is also a recognition that this side of the market is at the sharpest part of the AI wedge. The full-day event concludes with what could be two very spicy panels: one on the intersection of research integrity and tech (speakers include Niels Peter Thomas ( 1), president of global book publishing at Springer Nature, and Rahul Arora, chairman and CEO of learning and platform solutions provider MPS); the other is on the latest developments in AI licensing and copyright protection.
BIBF 2025 arrives in the context of a
The numbers for the members of the public have increased significantly since the switch to the centrally-located new venue, which is part of the former 2008 Beijing Olympics Park
Chinese publishing market that seems to be climbing out of its post-pandemic slowdown. The huge jumps in annual revenue for the Chinese retail books market in the booming 2010s hit the brakes during and after the pandemic, with the effects still being felt in 2024. Overall, sales last year were at ¥111.9bn (£11.6bn), a drop of around 1.5% on 2023, accord- ing to the Chinese market’s Beijing-based sales monitor OpenBook. (Though curiously, book production spiked, with 1.92 million new books released in 2024, a 10-year high). This year has been a different story, with sales up 10.8% in the first quarter, driven by a robust education and kids’ market – children’s accounts for nearly 30% of China’s books sales, compared to around 23% in the UK – and adult titles exploring well-being and the ramifications of AI.
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Beijing International Book Fair Preview Feature
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