Coronavirus: China’s private bookstores struggling to survive as sales drop 90 per cent, stores remain closed

China has over 70,000 brick-and-mortar bookstores, but they are among numerous small and medium-sized enterprises struggling due to a lack of customers

The virus is a further blow to the industry that was already under pressure from online rivals, as well as a growing trend of reading books on electronic devices

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After 17 years in business, Beijing’s The Bookworm closed in November 2019. Photo: Simon Song

Published: 1:05pm, 19 Feb 2020Updated: 1:23pm, 19 Feb 2020

During a one-hour live stream, two members of staff circled around the children’s section of an empty bookstore in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, flipping through illustrated books for dozens of online viewers.

At one point, the female member of staff who was holding the camera picked up Forever Young, a picture book by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, and said: “I love this book, and I highly recommend it. Fellow watchers, if you are interested, I can add you to our readers’ group on WeChat.”

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, many of China’s 70,000 bricks-and-mortar bookstores are among numerous small and medium-sized enterprises who have taken a hit from a lack of customers as many cities have closed shops and public facilities.

The virus is a further blow to physical book shops who were already under pressure from online rivals, as well as a growing trend of reading books on electronic devices, such as Amazon's Kindle.

Even if all of our bookstores reopen, and our business is like what it is now, then we won’t be able to stay in business after two to three months

Wu Yanping

And with many still unsure when they will be able to reopen, some have turned to live streams, membership cards, crowdfunding, and flash sales on social media.

Owspace, originally from Beijing, operates four stores in China, but only one store in a shopping centre on the eastern side of the capital city has opened for business, although daily traffic is down to around 10 per cent, with sales dropping 90 per cent accordingly.

“Even if all of our bookstores reopen, and our business is like what it is now, then we won’t be able to stay in business after two to three months,” said Wu Yanping, a manager at Owspace, who added that around 40 per cent of Owspace’s revenue comes from book sales.