Liu Binjie, vice director of the Press and Publication Administration, has indicated that the central government has ordered structural reform for state-level publishing houses.

Nearly all of the publishing units will be transformed into enterprises. The People's Publishing House, the only exception to the makeover order, will maintain its organization and identity as a public service operation.

Liu said the move is to keep the publishing sector in line with industrial modernization, and will serve as a trial for broader reforms in the culture and entertainment sectors this year. As a first step, the State Council has approved the transformation of the former China Publishing Group into China Publishing Group Corporation.

At present there are 527 publishing houses nationwide. In 2002 alone they published 171,000 titles, printing a total of 6.9 billion volumes. Although some publishers have modernized their operations during the past few years, traditional planned economy mechanisms have remained largely in place in this industry.

Liu Bo, head of the Distribution Management Department under the Press and Publication Administration, said that the joint stock restructuring of Xinhua Book Store will be completed by the end of this year. Under China's WTO agreements, the book retail market will open to foreign companies from December 1. Investment stakes will no longer be restricted to below set levels, and investors will be free to manage operations as they see fit. At the same time, hurdles for private domestic companies will fall.

According to a survey conducted by the China Publishing Science Institute, at least 20 to 30 larger private book companies throughout China are operating successfully. Most have design and publishing as well as retail operations.

(China.org.cn by Wang Ruyue, April 6, 2004)