Beijing government to invest millions to increase number of bookstores

In China, the Beijing municipal government announced it will invest RMB 50 million (A$10m) per year to support 150 brick-and-mortar bookstores in the city, reports the China Daily.

The government aims to increase the number of bookstores in Beijing to 200 by the year 2020. It plans for each of Beijing’s 16 districts to have one centralised bookstore as a hub for cultural activities in cooperation with public libraries.

To encourage more bookstores to open, the government will provide rent subsidies for retailers, and open up vacant spaces and warehouses for their development.

The new policy is an improvement on a 2016 policy that had provided RMB 18 million (A$3m) in funds per year to 70 stores in Beijing and had extended the exemption of value-added tax on retail and wholesale book purchases to encourage consumer spending.

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, Beijing’s first 24-hour bookstore in opened 2014 with the help of government subsidies and a tax reduction. This year, Xinhua bookstore announced plans to open 20 Beijing stores staffed by a robots and open 24 hours a day. Also in Beijing, the English-language bookstore The Bookworm launched a literary award and publishing house in 2014, adding to its work of running a literary festival.

Category: International news