China’s literary export-import disparity
Despite China's prominence as a major producer and exporter of various commodities, the export of literature is subject to numerous obstacles, including language barriers, censorship restrictions, limited international marketing efforts, and competition from internationally recognized publishing houses. These factors explain why China’s book export value fell below the 33 million U.S. dollars mark in 2022, despite peaking in 2012 and 2017 when values exceeded 60 million U.S. dollars.On the other hand, book import statistics have revealed the country’s resilient demand for a wide range of publications. In 2022, China imported 332 million U.S. dollars of books, almost triple that of a decade ago.