The Great Chinese Price: China is increasing the volume of transactions with Russian publishers

China is more active than other countries in buying rights to Russian literature. Several publishing houses at once, in an interview with Izvestia, note a similar trend. Soviet fairy tales, modern non-fiction, as well as children's and adolescent literature, including the novel "Scarecrow" by Vladimir Zheleznikov, are in demand. Which books particularly interested Asian readers can be found in the Izvestia article.

Oh, these kids!

The Chinese partners of the AST publishing house have acquired the rights to Vladimir Zheleznikov's Soviet novel "Scarecrow" (designed by illustrator Ekaterina Muratova). The story of school bullying is widely known in our country from the film adaptation by Rolan Bykov. In addition, Asian publishers are interested in collections of fairy tales and nature stories by Vitaly Bianchi, Eduard Shim, Konstantin Paustovsky and Mikhail Prishvin.

A shot from the movie "Scarecrow"

Photo: Mosfilm

Olga Kiselyova, Head of Strategic Development at the Product management department at the MIF publishing house, told Izvestia that China buys the most children's Russian literature from them. So, the latest deal is related to the scientific and educational book "From Odyssey to Harry Potter. Visual navigation through the sea of literature" by Elena Kuznetsova and Victoria Samsonova.

— Chinese partners buy whole series from us: for example, Chevostik (a series of children's encyclopedias. — Ed.) is published in China, educational books by our authors and artists are in high demand. There were cases when, at the request of Asian colleagues, we specially updated the series with new books for their audience," Olga Kiselyova shared.

From wedding traditions to poisons

In 2026, the volume of transactions with Chinese partners increased significantly. Non-fiction is still in demand. In this segment, the AST publishing house highlights psychological books — "I am Not Alone: Conscious Loneliness as part of a Harmonious Life" by Inna Litvinenko, "Evidence-based Psychosomatics" by Timofey Karmatsky. Also among the sought—after works are the esoteric novel "Laughter of the Shaman" by psychologist Vladimir Serkin, the popular science book "Poisons: The Full Story. From arsenic to "Novichok" by Kirill Privalov, an applied manual "Mathematics and magic tricks. Geometric puzzles for brain development" by Peter Zemskov, "The Worlds of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The Illustrated Encyclopedia".

— It is characteristic that publishers and readers in China are interested in the widest, sometimes very unexpected range of topics. For example, books with a pronounced national flavor and social context. The sale of the rights to the research "Maiden, wife, Mother. Women in Ancient Russia and wedding traditions" by Nikolai Bukenev, doctor's notes "Call an ambulance. Everyday life of a paramedic of the NSR" Evgenia Komarova and even the manual "Encyclopedia of a young pensioner. How to plan a passive income and stop working for Uncle Alexei Rodin," the AST press service added.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Anna Ratkoglo

As the representative of the publishing house noted, among the fiction, the works of modern authors such as Evgeny Vodolazkin, Guzel Yakhina and others are receiving attention, however, literary agencies are mainly engaged in this segment.

They meet you on the cover

Evgeny Kapyev, General Director of Eksmo Publishing House, told Izvestia that at the Beijing International Book Fair in June, Chinese partners became interested in the children's book series Pencil and Samodelkin, the popular science work Botany of an Anthropologist, fantasy The Witcher's Bestiary, and modern prose Taxi of Other People's Stories and the "Exchange point of sorrow for hope." Asian publishers are considering buying the rights to these books, and some are already preparing offers. Kapiev calls this trend stable and solid.

Evgeny Kapyev, General Director of EKSMO Publishing House

Photo: TASS/Kirill Kukhmar

The CEO of Eksmo said that following South Korea, the rights to Lera Nekrasova's book "Life after Death" were sold for translation into traditional Chinese. According to him, given that this segment is much smaller than the simplified Chinese market, and such deals are rarely concluded there, we can talk about China's stable interest in Russian publishing rights.

In addition, Asian publishers are interested in the rights to the domestic visual design. Olga Kiselyova noted that the design of the series of classics "Eternal Stories" by the publishing house "MYTH" is regularly purchased in China.