Top 5 websites to sell your book in China
You heard the Chinese book market is growing and now you want to sell your book in China. Here is the first thing to know: online sales are where the money is in China, so getting your book onto the top websites is step one of any real strategy.
China’s digital reading market in 2025: the fresh numbers
The market kept growing in 2025. China’s online literature reading market reached about 50.21 billion yuan (around $7.31 billion) in 2025, up 16.6% year on year. The number of digital readers in China hit 670 million in 2024, a 17.52% jump, and roughly 80.8% of adult readers now use e-books. Online channels matter most: since 2016, online sales have accounted for over 80% of the book retail market. If you want to sell books in China, that is where you build your plan.
Cost-Effective Agency
KPI and Results focused. We are the most visible Marketing Agency for China. Not because of huge spending but because of our SMART Strategies. Let us help you with: E-Commerce, Search Engine Optimization, Advertising, Weibo, WeChat, WeChat Store & PR.
More than 400,000 Chinese digital novels were exported in a recent year. Top destinations included North America, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. The most requested themes were fantasy and martial arts.
Why should you sell your book on top websites in China?
Chinese consumers live online. Payment, shopping, reading the news, reading books: it all happens on the phone. So you need to be on the platforms people already use if you want to enter the Chinese market. Chinese readers also love online entertainment and new tech, which makes digital books an easy fit.
Some advice to sell your book in China
Understand the Chinese audience
Knowing your audience is the base of any marketing plan. Here is a quick summary of the main trends in the Chinese book market right now:
- Online sales are roughly double physical store sales
- The great classics of Chinese literature stay at the top of the bestseller lists
- Children’s publishing holds a big share of the market, around 33%
- Educational books make up about 55% of children’s publishing
- Live streaming lifts book sales
- Discounts are a key factor to sell big in China
Who is the right target for your book?
You can also match genres to age groups. Gen Z prefers fiction and educational content, while millennials lean toward baby-care and finance books.
Those born from the 1960s to the 1980s generally read philosophy and social science. It also seems women read more for pleasure, while men read more for career development.
Top 5 websites to sell your book in China
1. Dangdang (当当): the book specialist
Dangdang is a B2C online retailer created by Peggy Yu and Li Guoqing in 1999. It is best known for books but also sells audio and video products, clothes, cosmetics, furniture and more.
Since its start, Dangdang has run a clean catalog, cutting out pirated books and audio and offering customers healthy, approved products. It is recognized by the National Press and Publication Administration, the Ministry of Culture, and other relevant bodies.
Dangdang also built an “integrity-first” reputation and was the first domestic company to promise “pay after checking the product”.
2. Douban (豆瓣): the reviews and information hub
Douban is a community website founded on March 6, 2005, by Yang Bo (screen name “Abei”). It hosts descriptions and reviews of books, movies, music and other works, all written by users (UGC).
It also works as a guide to Chinese taste in books, movies and music. The service uses local data (same city, group, neighbors) to connect people and build online communities.
You cannot sell your book on Douban, but it is one of the best places to promote it and build reviews.
3. WeChat (微信): the social app
Another strong tool to sell books is WeChat, the most used app in China.
Chinese readers love to share book recommendations on WeChat, and they buy books through WeChat mini-programs. A good way to sell your book is to share it in WeChat groups and book-focused communities. For the full picture of how the app works, read our deep analysis of Tencent’s WeChat ecosystem.
You can also partner with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to promote your book on WeChat. Readers follow KOL advice on what to read, and KOLs influence Chinese buyers across every sector.
4. JD.com (京东): trusted for self-publishing and delivery
JD.com is one of China’s largest B2C retailers and a major book seller. Shoppers trust it for fast, reliable delivery and authentic products, which matters a lot for print runs. JD also runs a self-publishing and print-on-demand service, so smaller authors and publishers can list titles without a huge upfront stock commitment.
5. Taobao (æ·˜å®): the number one e-commerce platform in China
As with many sectors, Taobao is a powerful platform to sell books online.
Taobao is the largest online retailer in China. Founded by Alibaba Group in May 2003, it is a popular shopping platform with nearly 500 million registered users and more than 60 million daily visitors.
As Taobao grew, it shifted from a pure C2C market to a full retail system that includes C2C, group buying, distribution and auctions.
Working on live streaming and KOL marketing on Taobao is one of the best ways to sell your book in China.
How can you partner with top websites to sell your book in China?
China can be a profitable market, but if you do not promote your book well, you will not earn back your investment. You cannot expect a book to take off in a very competitive market without branding behind it.
To sell your book in China, you need online branding
Own a Chinese website: skip the commission and distribution headache
You need a clean website that loads well for Chinese users. When a Chinese reader is unsure about something, they search online for information, and almost always on mobile.
To get attention, the site has to fit Chinese taste. A good design and well-written Chinese content matter a lot. You cannot just translate your existing site. It also helps to use a Chinese domain or hosting near China for loading speed.
Promote your book with Baidu SEO and SEM
Your website does little if you skip SEO and SEM on Baidu, the main search engine in China (the Chinese counterpart of Google). Our Baidu SEO guide for 2025 covers what has changed.
In short, drive traffic to your site through backlinks, PR, and paid ads.
SEO takes longer than SEM, so if you want quicker ROI you can start with paid ads on Baidu (PPC, banner, and display).
Your goal is to rank high on the first page of Baidu. That brings more visibility and more chances to grow.
Use social media to promote your book in China
Social media drives the Chinese business world, and every brand opens at least one account. So far it sounds like the West, but Chinese social apps are far more developed.
Chinese users spend even more time on social media than people in the West, and they love to shop, play and read reviews inside these apps. Many brands run original campaigns and games to engage their Chinese audience.
We already mentioned WeChat, but there are other popular apps. Xiaohongshu (also known as Little Red Book) is one of the most used apps by younger readers. It is famous for cosmetics and fashion, but you find everything lifestyle there too. So why not get a Key Opinion Consumer to talk about your book?
KOLs matter even more in China
You can work with intermediaries to market your e-book in China. Chinese readers trust influencers. Key Opinion Leaders can sell almost anything to their followers, as long as the product fits their image.
KOLs can be singers, actors or celebrities, and they are usually trendsetters whose followers want to copy their lifestyle. Paying for a good recommendation can be one of the best investments you make in China.
FAQ: selling your book in China
What is the best platform to sell books in China?
Dangdang is the dedicated book specialist, while Taobao and JD.com offer the widest reach. Most authors use a mix: Dangdang and JD for trust, Taobao for volume, and WeChat plus Douban for promotion and reviews.
How big is the digital reading market in China?
China had about 670 million digital readers in 2024, and the online literature reading market reached around 50.21 billion yuan (about $7.31 billion) in 2025, up 16.6% year on year.
Do I need a Chinese website to sell books in China?
It is not strictly required to list on a marketplace, but a Chinese-language website ranked on Baidu helps you avoid heavy marketplace commissions, build trust, and capture search traffic from readers looking for your title.
Does live streaming really sell books in China?
Yes. Live streaming on Taobao and Douyin, often with a KOL, drives strong book sales, especially when paired with a discount.
Need a cost-effective agency for China?
SEO Agency China (SAC) is a digital marketing firm based in Shanghai. We help smaller brands, authors and publishers reach Chinese readers without a big-agency budget.
For any question or help selling your book in China, contact us and we will guide you.
CONTACT US for a free consultation.
Jon Wang is a pragmatic, China-focused consultant with hands-on experience in Chinese e-commerce, distribution and digital marketing, always focused on practical solutions for smaller brands and tighter budgets.
I have written a English book about how to cultivate a right mindset. However, my main target is Chinese readers. I need it to be translated into Chinese. How should I go from here?
Do I need an agent in China to help me?
I would like to sell an ebook on a tax argument in China . The potential readers are Multinational companies , tax lawyers , accountants ,tax officers involved with multinational companies ….the title is Tax Transfer Pricing , and the argument is not country-based (so the dealing with is valid for China ,USA ,Europe and so on).
I am well known on the argument in western countries (I wrote several papers in international journals and the most popular book on the argument in Italy but in Italian language).
May you help mem in setting the ebok on Chinese platforms ?
Thanks for answer.
My name is Jack Mulikita from the Republic of Zambia.l am an author of an ebook called “Daily Spoken Nyanja For Chinese Nationals Living and Working in Zambia.Therefore,l would like to sell my ebook to China
I wrote a beginners Drum / Percussion Method Book. It is selling well here in the USA. I want to share it with would be drummers in China. I self- published.
I am looking for someone in China to get it out on the market there. – Everard Harris , Teacher, Author, Drummer, Musician
I have 2 paperbacks and eBooks in Chinese language (Simplify and Traditional) about how to improve the English language teaching. I want to sell them in China.
Hello I write a book And I am a writer and I usually gift books to my friends And now I decided to sell it on your site; Just how are your conditions? If you explain, I will understand The book is pdf and the language is English or Farsi and maybe other languages
About the founder
Martin Ighodaro Omoregie is the managing director and founder of Mariog
Group of Companies. Mariog Information and Consulting Company Ltd,
Mariog Education Consulting Company Ltd. He is also the author of 15
Interactive English books for kids and adults. He is presently the author
and co-author of SmartKids, BigKids and LuxuryKids English books from
foundational level to advanced level. He has degrees and diplomas from
prestigious universities that include “Language and Culture Coaching
(TESL/TESOL), Bachelor of Science in Industrial Relations and Personnel
Management, Diploma in Journalism, Certificate in Mass Communication,
Certificate in Secretarial Studies”.
He has the following applied educational skills, such as “lesson planning,
classroom management techniques, skills development (grammar,
pronunciation, listening, speaking, reading and writing), teaching
strategies, teaching multi-level classes, teaching business English, TOEFL
preparation, teaching young learners and observed teaching practice.
He has more than twenty years of teaching involvement
You dont mention the need for Chinese region ISBN and government review of each book published, even PDF ebooks in China, making it near impossible to enter the market without great cost and time expense
I have a book about NATO and America and China.I am an American cifizen.
I have a book in English about NATO and America and China.I am an American cifizen and author.
How can we help you ?
email us please , better for business
How to sell book in China? How to get an agent ?