Usborne launches Chinese imprint

Usborne has launched an imprint in China with local publisher Jieli Publishing House.

Usborne China was set up by Usborne’s deputy m.d. Nicola Usborne, rights director Paula Ziedna and senior rights controller Jennifer Ahn, and was officially launched in Beijing today (10th January) by Ahn. 

The new imprint will publish Usborne titles for the Chinese market, and distribution will be handled by Jieli. The annual publishing programme and marketing will be decided upon jointly.

Peter Usborne said: “China is well on the way to becoming the world’s biggest market for children’s books. Jieli has been a strong rights customer of ours for many years, and I am thrilled to work with them from now on to bring the Usborne identity into the Chinese-language market.”

Bai added: “The creativity in Usborne books brings a lot of reading fun to children all around the world. The launch of Usborne China will surely bring a new reading experience to young Chinese readers. We firmly believe that Usborne’s publishing concept and marketing strategy will inspire the children’s publishing industry in China a lot, and that it will boost the development of our book market as well.”

Usborne China is the company’s second imprint in Asia, as in 2014 it launched a similar business in South Korea with BIR. It also publishes under its own imprints in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese and Catalan.