Brits go to Beijing in buoyant mood

For the first time, UK publishers will form the biggest international contingent at the Beijing International Book Fair this year, overtaking Japan and South Korea, historically the two largest national parties. British companies coming to BIBF’s 25th edition said they hope to capitalise on the flourishing Chinese market, which is seeing an "immense" increase in deals and advances.

With a record 33 companies exhibiting on its collective stand, the UK Publishers Association will be taking its biggest cohort yet, with eight first-timers. All told, there will be 56 British firms at the event; those exhibiting outside the collective stand include conglomerates Penguin and OUP, mid-sized firms such as Haynes and Edward Elgar, and rights-trading companies such as Darley Anderson Literary, TV & Film Agency and Ian Taylor Associates.

Seasoned attendee Pan Macmillan will this year have its largest stand and staff presence to date, taken from both its UK and US teams. International sales director Jonathan Atkins says: "After many years of tantalising promise, we are all seeing enthusiastic expressions of interest turn into genuinely substantial rights deals and significant orders."

China is becoming more important for indies, too. In the past five years, Canongate has more than doubled the number of deals done in China, and more than quadrupled the value of those deals. In 2016, China was the territory in which the publisher struck the greatest number of deals, and in 2017 it trailed only Italy. "China has the biggest population in the world and its book market is expanding and this has led to an increase in rights sales," says senior rights executive Caroline Clarke, who adds that the increase in rights business is also due to a newer generation of Chinese editors who are more fluent in English and well-versed in European or American cultures, and can therefore rely more on their own reading of books and manuscripts rather than relying on scouts’ reader reports.

As well as a rise in the number of deals done, publishers are also seeing an increase in auctions. Barney Duly, head of rights at Laurence King Publishing, notes that this heightened competition—and Chinese publishers with bigger budgets—is driving up the value of rights deals. Crucially for an illustrated publisher like LKP, Chinese publishers place a premium on high-quality design, Duly adds, which makes Western titles attractive propositions. "There will come a time when they can create content of the same calibre as European and US publishers, and for less money but, until then, they will look to us to provide this," he says.

It is not necessarily the uncertainty of the Brexit negotiations that is making UK publishers turn to China. Michael O’Mara foreign and digital sales director Pinelopi Pourpoutidou argues that it is a sign of the increasing importance of the Chinese market as an export partner at a time when European markets are stagnating. Grant Hartley, export sales director at Usborne, agrees. He says the Chinese market has gathered "immense momentum" over recent years, with e-commerce and social media coming together to create a "very powerful combination". He adds: "It’s possible to engage with more Chinese readers and consumers than ever before, and to convert that interaction into sales. In our focus on Asia in general—and China in particular—UK publishers have been way ahead of any need created by Brexit.

"We’re often more established in overseas markets and more knowledgeable about exporting than the government departments that sometimes approach us offering help and advice. In reaching Chinese parents via social media, we’re still only scratching the surface. There’s so much more that can be done, and that’s the opportunity we’re trying to maximise."