Thirty-year Reform and Opening-up of China's Publishing Industry

The year 1978 was a turning point in the history of the publishing industry in the People's Republic of China (PRC). 1 Since then it has undergone a thorough transformation and has achieved notable progress in at least four aspects, namely innovations in the administrative system on a macro level, the evolvement of publishing houses' operation, the more global orientation of Chinese publishing, and various developments in copyright protection. The Chinese government in 1978 formulated the policy of "Reform and Opening-up". Since then the Chinese publishing industry has undergone a thorough transformation, involving changes in the administrative system, publishing philosophy, business operations and such like. As a result, the industry has not only come to play an increasingly important role in Chinese intellectual life, but has also become a major sector in the national economy. In this article we will review a number of recent developments in the Chinese publishing industry, namely innovations in the macro-administrative system, the evolvement of publishing houses' operation, the internationalisation of the publishing industry, and developments in copyright protection.