La (carta) cinese
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The Chinese paperback translation of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the seventh in the series, sells for $9, more than twice the price of its predecessors and a slice out of disposable income that in cities averages less than $165 a month.
Like many manufacturers, publishers in the United States and Europe are turning to Chinese printers to churn out books, reducing their costs by up to 30 percent, according to Pira International, a research and consultancy firm specializing in the print and paper industries.
Penguin UK, a British book publisher, spends about 60 percent of its manufacturing budget in China, a shift that created savings of 20 percent to 50 percent three years ago when it first moved there. Those savings have provided a cushion that the company says will allow the publisher to avoid raising prices — for now.
When Li Ying, a television writer and editor, went to buy a copy of the classic Chinese novel “Family,” he was shocked to find it cost $5.40, nearly twice what he expected to pay.
A 1996 edition sells for less than half online.
People’s Literature Publishing House increased prices for Dan Brown’s novels 20 percent since 2004, selling “Deception Point” for $3.90.
When People’s Literature raised the cover price of the latest Harry Potter installment, fans of the series complained, said an employee in the publishing section who would only give his surname, Wu.
Hu Lichang, a construction worker in Beijing, hunted for bargain copies of the latest Harry Potter book at a recent Beijing book fair before finding a discounted volume for $6.75.
“But even that was expensive,” he said.
