CHINA is to slow the growth of its fast-expanding publishing industry in an effort to attain higher quality, it was revealed yesterday.
And despite its increasing economic clout, the private sector will still be barred from the industry, which remains one of the Government's main ideological control mechanisms.
Yan Xiaohong, vice-director of the Books Administrative Department at the State Press and Publications Administration, said publishing houses and their output would be limited to two per cent annual growth.
Over the past 16 years, the industry has been growing at an average yearly rate of 28.3 per cent, with 557 registered publishers in 1994 compared with 105 in 1978.
In 1994 alone, more than six million books and 2.2 billion magazines were pumped into the market.
This put enormous pressure on already tight paper, management and editorial resources causing significantly lower standards, said Mr Yan.
'A considerable number of publications are filled with editorial and proof-reading mistakes. We want a shift from quantity to quality, and from size to efficiency,' he added.
