Overview
- Hong Kong is a regional publishing centre, backed by a highly developed printing industry. Freedom of expression and a liberal attitude towards the press are important factors attracting a concentration of prestigious international publications in Hong Kong.
- Many major international publishers of newspapers, magazines and books have their Asian headquarters here.
- The publishing industry benefits from Hong Kong's excellent communications network. For example, satellite communications enable international publishers to transmit texts and high-quality images to Hong Kong for producing their Asian editions.
- Hong Kong’s publishing industry is adapting to the digitalisation trend, while the electronic book frenzy is sweeping the globe. In the past year, over 1,000 local e-books were published in Hong Kong.
Industry Data
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Printing and Publishing
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Mar 2011
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Number of establishments
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4,135
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Number of persons engaged
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37,156
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Source: Quarterly Report of Employment, Vacancies and Payroll Statistics, Census and Statistics Department
Range of Services
The range of products provided by the publishing industry can be classified as follows:
- Newspapers and magazines: Hong Kong is well served by a great variety of newspapers and magazines, in Chinese, English and other languages; and by both local and international publishers. A large number of international publishers use Hong Kong as the base to perform some or all of the functions of local market adaptations, printing, advertising sales and subscription.
- Books: these include mass market books as well as textbooks, reference books and specialist books by both local and international publishers.
- Non-book publications: this category mainly includes the fast growing sector of electronic publishing such as multimedia CD-ROMs and on-line publishing.
Service Providers
Newspaper and magazine publishers
As of the end-July 2010, there were 47 newspapers and 652 periodicals (including a number of electronic newspapers) in Hong Kong. Of the newspapers, 22 were Chinese, 13 English, 7 bilingual and 5 in Japanese. Of the Chinese newspapers, 17 focused on local and international news, 3 specialised in financial news, and the others were about horse racing.
Many international media organisations have offices in Hong Kong, which is also the base for a number of regional publications. For example, Hong Kong is the regional base for the Far Eastern Economic Review. The Wall Street Journal Asia, The Financial Times, USA Today International, International Herald Tribune and the Nihon Keizai Shimbun are also printed here.
Some specialist publishers produce trade publications either for local or international circulation. Many of them are also organisers of trade shows.
Book publishers
International book publishers operating in Hong Kong include Oxford University Press, Longman, Readers' Digest and Macmillan. These companies manage the production, marketing, and distribution of books for the Hong Kong market and export to other sister companies around the world.
In recent years, more foreign titles are being translated into Chinese. They include management, personal finance and self-improvement books as well as cartoons and popular novels, especially those which have been adapted to cinematic or TV screens.
Non-book publishers
CD-Rom publishing is an area of increasing interest. Many publishers also release their titles in CD-Rom form for easy storage, search and retrieval. Multimedia CD-Rom titles mainly belong to the educational and reference categories.
On-line publishing is becoming more popular. An increasing number of major magazines, regional newspapers, local newspapers and wire services are going on-line. There are also many pure Internet publishers.
Exports
Hong Kong’s printing exports amounted to US$876 million in the first six months of 2011, up 8.4% from the same period in 2010. The US, UK, Australia and the Chinese mainland markets together absorbed nearly 60% of Hong Kong’s total printing exports.
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Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other printed products (HS49)
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2010
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Jan-Jun 2011
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Total exports (US$ mn)
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1,890
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876
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Growth (%)
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+10.5
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+8.4
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Major export markets (% share)
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-
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-
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US
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34.4
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32.7
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UK
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14.5
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14.1
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Australia
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6.3
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6.2
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Chinese Mainland
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6.2
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6.1
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Germany
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4.6
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4.7
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Japan
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4.2
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4.4
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Source: Census and Statistics Department
Hong Kong is a major centre for Chinese-language publications. Some local Chinese newspapers and magazines are also distributed in Taiwan, the Chinese mainland and overseas communities where there are significant Chinese population.
Industry Development and Market Outlook
Mainland market opening measures after WTO accession are restricted to the formation of Sino-foreign joint-ventures in the publishing business and distribution of publications. Meanwhile, setting up wholly-owned publishing or import companies on the Chinese mainland remains off-limit to foreign companies, including Hong Kong companies. Hong Kong companies' participation is now mainly focused on entering the market through copyright trade and establishing ties with mainland publishing companies in the importation and distribution fields. The huge potential of the Chinese mainland market is the focus of the world. Hong Kong publishers are at an advantageous position to market China studies to the world. There are growing opportunities for publishers to market trade journals to Western companies which want to establish or expand their presence in the mainland market.
The annual Hong Kong Book Fair is a major event of Hong Kong’s publishing industry, attracting publishers, booksellers, distributors, writers and readers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world. Alongside Hong Kong Book Fair 2011, there was an International Publishing Forum, of which the theme was “New Opportunities for Digital Publishing”. In 2011, there were 526 exhibitors, including around 100 international exhibitors, participated in Hong Kong Book Fair to showcase their publications, attracting 950,000 visitors to the fair.
Hong Kong’s publishing industry is adapting to the digitalisation trend, while the electronic book frenzy is sweeping the globe. In the past year, over 1,000 local e-books were published in Hong Kong. 24Reader, a local e-book integrator, has seen a steady growth of 10-20% in its mobile e-book apps business since last year. Responding to the growing popularity of electronic reading, the Hong Kong Book Fair 2011 featured two theme zones on e-publishing with 32 exhibitors, a 60 % increase from last year. The Future Book Store, making its debut at the 2011 fair, attracted 10,000 visitors, and the e-book Reading Platform launched by 3 Hong Kong and HKTDC recorded more than 18,000 downloads since the end of June.
Underpinning Hong Kong’s publishing businesses is a highly developed printing industry. Meanwhile, many Hong Kong printing companies have relocated their factories to the PRD. According to the Hong Kong Printers Association, more than 70% of Hong Kong printing factories have moved to the PRD area.
Under Supplement VI to CEPA, Hong Kong service suppliers (HKSS) can set up typesetting and production services companies in the form of wholly-owned, equity joint venture or contractual joint venture basis on the Chinese mainland, providing pre-press services such as proof-reading, design and typesetting of books for the country.
In addition, Supplement IV to CEPA allows HKSS to establish joint-venture enterprises on the Chinese mainland to conduct printing of publications and other printed matters. The shareholding of the HKSS should not exceed 49%.
Under Supplement VII to CEPA, which took effect from January 2011, distribution companies set up by HKSS on the mainland are allowed to distribute books published in Hong Kong. Hong Kong books to be distributed, however, must be imported by publication import agents approved by mainland authorities.
As of June 2011, the Hong Kong government had granted HKSS certificates to 36 printing companies out of 38 applications.
