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In line with the theme of ‘Honor and Dreams’, the fifth China Children’s Book Editor and Marketing Annual Meeting was held on January 11 in Beijing.
Chen Lijun, vice president of the Dangdang Group, noted that Dangdang has grown at an admirably high speed, earning revenues of about 14 billion yuan ($2.01 billion) in 2016, 3.7 billion yuan of which were children’s books, with a year-on-year growth of 35 percent.
Li Guoqing, CEO of the Dangdang Group, addressed the meeting and said, “Dangdang will continue to play its platform advantage, put a cap on prices and set up book clubs to ensure positive development of the publishing industry.”
Li added that publishers shouldn’t be ‘blind’ in the pursuit of new books, whilst classic items should be republished instead.
In addition, the Children’s Book of the Year and the Best Seller of the Year were unveiled at the meeting, including the “Picture Book World” (I-V), “Teen Reading History”, “Lin Huanzhang Children’s Poems”, “Magic School Bus” and “This is the 24 Solar Terms”.
The popularity of children’s books has been on the rise for some time: “Books, as cultural carriers, are the transmission of civilization, and children’s book publishing to some extent is actually a kind of education,” said Bai Bing, chief editor of the Relays Press.
“Children are the best readers; however, they need proper guidance while reading,” said Cao Wenxuan, a well-known writer. He added, “People’s cognitive and aesthetic ability are made, not born. How to choose a good book? Children need a group of reading supervisors, like parents, teachers and experts.”
