On September 21, the State Administration of Press and Publication issued a notice outlining the "15th Five-Year Plan for Publishing Industry Development" (referred to as "the Plan"). The Plan proposes that by 2030, the publishing industry will achieve notable results in high-quality development, with its role in stimulating the nation's cultural innovation and creativity, as well as driving cultural prosperity, becoming more prominent.
The industry's function of ideological guidance and cultural foundation-building will be further strengthened, the ideological front in publishing will be more firmly consolidated, excellent works will continue to emerge, and the reading atmosphere will become richer. The publishing industry will realize effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth, with steady increases in industry revenue, profits, and assets. Significant breakthroughs will be made in integrated development, and the contribution share of emerging publishing formats will rise substantially.
In terms of publishing supply, the Plan calls for improving mechanisms for content production services, guidance, and organization, and enhancing original capacity and content quality. By 2030, a batch of classic works that promote Chinese culture, disseminate advanced knowledge, and nourish people's minds—worthy of the era and capable of being passed down to future generations—will be launched.
At the same time, the production and dissemination of quality online publishing content will be strengthened. Supervision over online literature and online games will be tightened, guiding and regulating their healthy development, while introducing a series of excellent new popular cultural and artistic works. Selection and recommendation mechanisms will be applied to online literature and online games, choosing works with correct value orientation, rich cultural connotations, and novel and engaging forms to play a positive guiding and exemplary role.
In deepening nationwide reading, the Plan underscores the importance of nationwide reading in building a culturally strong nation. The "Nationwide Reading Promotion Regulation" will be implemented, and events such as Nationwide Reading Activity Week and the Nationwide Reading Conference will be held. The "Bookish China" reading activity brand will be consolidated to further foster a strong atmosphere of loving, reading, and being good at reading books. By 2030, the comprehensive reading rate among adult citizens in China will exceed 83 percent.
Nationwide reading activities will be incorporated as an important part of creating civilized cities, towns, villages, units, families, and campuses, driving urban and rural grassroots communities to carry out diverse reading activities. Meanwhile, the acceleration of deep integrated development in publishing will be pursued. Following trends of digitalization, networking, and intelligence, the integration of traditional and emerging publishing will be expedited, guiding publishing entities to speed up digital-intelligent empowerment and information transformation, thereby strengthening the main front of publishing in the digital-intelligent era.
The Plan specifies that by 2030, a new industrial ecosystem featuring value-added content, integrated symbiosis, and open innovation will be established. Anchored by key projects for integrated publishing development, new formats, applications, and carriers will be vigorously cultivated, and a number of influential high-quality multimodal intellectual property (IP) products will be created. Leading enterprises will play a driving role, engaging in pioneering exploration in content construction, technological application, model innovation, and format expansion, and building integrated, digital-intelligent, and high-quality professional databases and comprehensive platforms.
Additionally, the Plan emphasizes strengthening international communication in publishing. Innovative channels and methods for publishing "going global" will be developed, promoting more publishing enterprises and excellent publishing products worldwide to enhance the communication power and influence of Chinese civilization. By 2030, the annual scale of exported book copyrights will reach about 14,000 items. Overseas marketing channels will be expanded in a targeted manner, supporting the development of publishing markets in countries jointly building the "Belt and Road" Initiative, promoting the establishment of overseas internet marketing platforms, and fully leveraging cooperation and exchanges in publishing with Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan to enhance international communication.
International exhibition platforms will be used to disseminate China's quality books, building the "Read China" brand. Specialized publishing entities and key printing and distribution enterprises will be encouraged to "go global," establishing publishing IP and enterprises with international influence and recognition. A relevant official from the State Administration of Press and Publication stated in response to media inquiries that the Plan guides and promotes the prosperous development of the publishing industry over the next five years, highlighting measures such as strengthening content construction, reinforcing reading guidance, and deepening integrated development.
The main highlights of the Plan include: first, strengthening content construction to expand quality supply; second, reinforcing reading guidance to cultivate reading habits; and third, accelerating integration and reshaping to nurture development momentum.