Marketing Chinese Books Abroad
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Chinese books are sold abroad, for making a profit, which is like an unbelievable story in the past.
Can we win enough overseas consumers? Do we sell books overseas just for spreading our in fluence rather than for making a profit when the domestic readers are difficult to surtain our own market.
Even in face of variety of doubts, still there is no lack of bold attempt of Chinese cultural enterprises. Now, in Southeast Asia, there is a Chinese bookstore that, has opened two branches that have an impact on the local ones. Another one in Beijing is translating 100 kinds of contemporary classic books on Chinese culture, with the aim at breaking into the American book market.
The two that sell books abroad are private enterprises, which should be referred. Both of them have anticipated to catch some good opportunities with aid of spreading Chinese culture, following the market laws. They have gradually become an important force in introducing Chinese culture for foreign readers and output Chinese overseas copyright. Meanwhile, they also encountered a lot of difficulties and challenges, but they will only be tested by time.
Chinese Bookstores Have been Established in Southeast Asia
The Chinese company that runs overseas is Xinzhi Group, which is headquartered in Yunnan. Li Yong, the Chairman of the Board of Xinzhi Group, who thinks that Yunnan and Southeast Asia are linked from the geographical ways as well as the frequent economic and cultural exchanges, so Xinzhi Group can enter the Southeast Asian with unique advantages, and expand markets there. What’s more, it also accumulated a bunch of successful experiences in expanding overseas market.
Xinzhi Group has two overseas bookstores. One is in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and the other is located in Laos, the capital of Vientiane.
Although the two countries are not rich, on several occasions, Li Yong visited these two countries and he was admitted to see the overseas opportunities of Chinese culture. Whether it’s from the historical, cultural, or economic way, the two countries have close ties with China. So there is a large market demand for Chinese culture and Chinese books.
For example, in Cambodia a total of 600,000 overseas Chinese amounts to about 3% of the total population, and in Phnom Penh overseas Chinese are the majorily, with the number of more than 30 million. There is a natural demand for Chinese books there. In addition, with close relations of China-Cambodia on trade, economic, culture and so on, more Cambodians begin to learn Chinese, and they hope to understand Chinese political, economical, cultural and other aspects.
It’s no doubt that this objective demand stimulates the copyright transfer demand of Chinese books in English version. In October 2011, the bookstore in Phnom Penh of Xinzhi Group was formally established, selling about 80,000 kinds of books with a management area about more than 1500 square meters.
Cambodia's success led to open a new bookstore of Xinzhi Group in Vientiane immediately, the second one in Southeast Asia. It has slightly smaller scale with area of 500 square meters, but there are more than 30,000 copies available. However, it is the largest bookstore in Laos. This spring, Cambodian dignitaries from the Standing Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the Mayor of Vientiane City secretary Su Gan ? Maharaja, the president of the Supreme People's Court of Laos Campanian ? Siddhi Danpa, and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia as well as Yunnan officials offered their congratulations in its ceremony.
It’s easy to run a shop but hard to make money. Especially in the era of Internet, it’s more difficult for the entity to make money.
Xinzhi is provided with its peculiar place. The major bookstores contain books that aren’t to excluse of other cultural goods. The unique Chinese cultural products attract more Chinese and local people, which plays a good promotional effect of Chinese books.
Taking the bookstore in Phnom Penh for example, which is next to the University of Phnom Penh and the Confucius Institute in Phnom Penh, we can see that it attracts serious readers. In addition to books, the bookstore, at the same time, sells sports merchandise and part of the area is even for rent. According to Li Yong, as a relatively wealthy investor in China, Xinzhi can obtain the operating rights of the entire building at the wholesale price , and subcontract part of operations on the floor on the retail price, so its profit is enough to support the operations of the entire bookstore.
As part of the market cultivation, the bookstore in Phnom Penh also plans to run Chinese training school by on self-reliance.
In fact, in a variety of business, many large domestic bookstores adopt countermeasures in front of weak sales. The successful way of business of Xinzhi Group is used for market economy, which is still in a lower stage of Southeast Asian region. Doing various business, Xinzhi Group can subsidize the bookstore, to improves the operation of overseas bookstores and the expand influence of the Group overseas. And the emergence of Chinese bookstore, which is more advantageous to the Chinese culture spread overseas, which is helpful to enhance the strength of the Chinese culture and fits the grand strategy of Chinese culture output,is quite a phenomenon.
Chinese Cultural Company Has Been Set Up in Manhattan
Li Yong found the overseas markets for Chinese culture, so did Zhu Taiping, the chairman of the company, Beijing Times. He has opened a branch in Manhattan recently and sold a bunch of 100 kinds of Chinese Books in English version in the United States, and aiming at the next year's plan. There are literary works about traditional Chinese, but also are lots of readings about contemporary China's development and achievements.
Beijing Times is slightly different from Xinzhi Group. It issues the English translation of the Chinese books.
Though high price is quite common in Manhattan, is there a chance for the Chinese books stores to make profit? Zhu Taiping replied that he has well planned. In his eyes, with China's economic rise and influential enhancement, the world mainstream such as European and American politics, the business community and the scientific research community that study China's policies, history and culture , is being a " business opportunity".
In New York, to his surprise, Mr. Zhu found that bookstores are filled with the best publications in the world, but there is a lack of splendid books from China. "I visited the Barnes & Noble bookstore in New York and he found only two Chinese books. One is the translation of" A Dream of Red Mansions" by Sinologists, and the other is a Chinese Tourist Brochures."
He believes that the selection of overseas readers' interest would certainly be able to make profit, in accordance with the laws of the market,.
But it is different from Xinzhi Group on overseas sales of Chinese books, Mr. Zhu assumes that Chinese books will win oversea markets, and English versions are needed, so that it can really produce influence. In fact, from the overseas business of Li Yong and Zhu Taiping, we know that the profound changes in foreign output of the Chinese excellent books occus. Chinese cultural enterprises that output Chinese outstanding books were state-owned and operated ones, which were initiated by the government. However, with the growing influence of the Chinese culture, the overseas markets are expanding. It prompts private enterprises to seize the chance and speed up the layout, which are based on the commercial operation of the laws of the market. They may be more to the viability and competitiveness.
The Opportunity with Risk
In overseas markets, if they have only Chinese books or books in English, which shall depend on the demands of market, it is not enough.Weng Changshou, an associate professor from the of Institute of Journalism and Communication People's University of China, says the Chinese books are translated into English for copyright transfer, which has too much emphasis on the western mainstream. This costs a lot, whereas the effect may not be very good.
Professor Weng, sales of Chinese excellent books should begin from the overseas Chinese market first to overseas ones. After the formative influence is on them, and then it can extend to the Western mainstream, step by step. marketing chinese books is a gradual and ongoing process, which we don't need to the worried about.
During the process, it’s not always successful and is sure to encounter a lot of challenges. If the management is poor, there is a loss that may cause to lose everything. After all, the world economical downturn and the influence of the rise of electronic readings, overseas publishing market has shrunk in recent years, so many bookstores and press are difficult to continue. Moreover, in the past few years, a lot of enterprises in China were keen on overseas, and some succeeded, but some suffered huge losses, even dragged on their parent companies. That happened very often.
Li Yong says that the overseas business, especially the operating of bookstore, is full of challenges. For example, in Cambodia and Laos, since the systems are not very perfect, some legal Chinese books got often in trouble. They transported books to bookstore in quite a long time; consequently, the cost has increased. In addition, cultural differences, the language barriers and other some man-made factors, also put operators under great pressure.
However, they based on the successful experience in the domestic book marketing, whether Li Yong who focuses his attention on the book market overseas or Zhu Kaiping who looks forward to the American culture market, are both cautious and ambitious.
Zhu Taiping thinks if his American subsidiary runs well, the sales would reach USD 30 million within three years. In addition, he also plans to purchase several American publishing enterprises. The third overseas bookstore of Xinzhi Group is located in Burma. And Li Yong also wants to build more bookstores in other Southeast Asian countries. On this faris, he can plan to expand to go to European and American market, and set up dozens of large Chinese bookstores in the world.