2026 Beijing Book Ordering Fair Photo: VCG

Pocket-size books and contemporary social science topics are proving popular among readers, while advances in artificial intelligence and digital publishing have emerged as major highlights at the 2026 Beijing Book Ordering Fair, which opened on Thursday, according to the organizing committee.

This year's event spans an exhibition area of 50,000 square meters and features more than 400,000 book titles. Over 700 exhibitors have set up more than 2,700 booths, presenting a wide range of new releases and publishing innovations, per the committee.

Against the backdrop of the release of regulations to promote reading among the public, which provide institutional support for building a reading-oriented society, multiple publishers and industry insiders told the Global Times at the event that readers are showing increasingly clear interest in books closely related to their personal lives. Themes such as emotional consumption, medical and health topics, and works in the social sciences have seen particularly strong momentum, according to feedback gathered at the fair.

For the People's Literature Publishing House, long known for its strengths in traditional literary publishing, this year's participation reflects both continuity and change. While continuing to promote its core literary offerings, the publishing house is also expanding into the field of social science publishing.

"One of the major highlights for us at this year's fair is [Chinese author] Liu Zhenyun's latest book A Salty Joke, which was published on December 4. Sales have already reached 400,000 copies," said Chen Lihong, a representative of the publishing house. Chen said the book's popularity stems not only from the author's influence, but also from its humorous narrative centered on the lives of ordinary people.

Chen added that readers today are increasingly drawn to books that relate directly to their own experiences and emotions, and are particularly attentive to content that satisfies their need for "emotional consumption." She noted that there is a very clear trend in health, comics, and social science books and that the publishing house is aligning its publishing plans with readers' needs.

The rise of social media platforms has also accelerated the trend toward the "IP-ization" and artistic presentation of literature, further enhancing books' appeal. The People's Literature Publishing House has introduced a comic-book version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. CITIC Press Group has launched a pictorial book on the Yungang Grottoes, while publications featuring collections from the Palace Museum in Taipei are making books that increasingly resemble art objects, broadening their visual and cultural value and making them more attractive and readable.

On the exhibition floor, a retired employee from Gongmei Mansion lingered over an illustrated edition of Classic of Mountains and Seas, leafing through its pages repeatedly before sharing his impressions with the Global Times .

New formats such as pocket-size library editions are also gaining traction among readers. "We're seeing the emergence of new product forms such as pocket-size library books, and Chinese cultural titles are increasingly being produced in very refined and exquisite ways. These are qualities that digital products may not be able to replace," Shen Jiale, general manager of the distribution group of CITIC Press Group, told the Global Times. She said the publisher has introduced 100 varieties of pocket-size editions this year to make books easier to carry anywhere. "Readability and aesthetic quality will be key factors influencing people's choice of physical books," Shen noted.

Beyond print formats, achievements in artificial intelligence and digital publishing stand out as major highlights of this year's fair. Nearly 20 technology-­related events have been scheduled, covering areas such as intelligent publishing, AI applications, and innovation in digital content.

A representative surnamed Qiu from the AI smart health platform developed by the People's Medical Publishing House told the Global Times that the platform integrates the publisher's medical textbooks and teaching materials to generate customized exam papers for medical students. It also uses data analysis to evaluate students' learning performance and provides AI virtual-teacher courses and services related to medical licensing exam preparation, supporting medical students' studies.

This is far from an isolated case. The "Xiaoyao Reading" AI smart e-book platform, which uses artificial intelligence to deliver personalized reading recommendations, and the Shanhai Contract AI comic-drama project all explore AI's application in content creation and driving the transformation of traditional publishing into digital content production.

In addition, a dedicated cross-sector cultural products zone occupies an entire floor at this year's fair, expanding the event's scale. The zone focuses on "integrated innovation empowering growth" and brings together categories such as intangible cultural heritage creative products and IP merchandise.

A representative of the organizing committee told the Global Times that the recent popularity of book-related cultural and creative products at the Ditan book fair, including items such as the "Lu Xun vest," clearly demonstrates the potential of cultural creativity within the publishing market.

"While introducing many innovations in reading, we also hope to introduce more product innovations, so that books themselves can continue to thrive," the representative said.