Press
8 Questions for Lu Jun;
Bio: Lu Jun
Mr Lu, what have you been busy with lately?
I’ve been busy with the extension of relevant children’s publishing based cultural services, such as running the Beijing and Shanghai stops for the stage production of Last Stop On Market Street, as well as running the Shanghai premier and nationwide tour for the World Illustration Exhibition: Hans Christian Andersen Awards 50th Anniversary Exhibition. These two extremely influential non-publishing operations are the children’s publishing based industrial ecology businesses that we’ve been actively promoting on a massive scale in the first half of 2017. This has provided a very good model for the development of the structure and mode of operation of citickids’ intellectual property rights.
citickids may be young but it has made a name for itself. Can you tell us about its major achievements since its incorporation over a year ago?
The rapid growth of citickids is the product of the joint empowerment of the inherent strength of the Internet and the creative economy. It is also the result of an all-new social collaborative efficiency system. Of course, the citickids team has also been very hardworking, and has very strong combat capability and fighting spirit. In truth, we’ve been learning a lot more than achieving in the last year and a half. We have a lot to learn from our peers and predecessors. That’s because the fundamental purpose of being involved in children’s book publishing is not about size or efficiency, much less the existing market. Rather, it is about being able to contribute one’s own value to children’s book publishing and children’s reading in China. We, and every sincere children’s book publisher, have a common spirit to serve users and pursuit of value. If we have to review our achievements since 2015, we feel that we may have contributed, to a certain extent, to the industry in the following areas:
First, we achieved some new development success in terms of cross-industry and integration between new technology and children’s book publishing; for instance, combining AR technology and science education for children to launch a new era of interface in science education for children. The Break-out Science series has become the magnum opus of AR publication.
Next, we were the first to adopt social distribution and community marketing methods, drawing a brand-new landscape in channel operation and marketing for children’s book publishing, and possibly even the entire publishing industry. We are distributing and marketing children’s publications together with our industry peers, and finding new growth possibilities and new paradigms.
Elsewhere, by adopting a market-oriented modus operandi, we have made the best children’s reading material the social mainstream in an era of consumption upgrading, providing more quality products and services to children’s reading for rising middle-class families.
Last but not least, we have published a few fairly influential book series in a number of areas such as picture books, science education, as well as infant and early stage as well as children’s art, creating a certain brand effect.
What are your favorite children’s books/teenage reading materials/things you’ve read in your childhood or adolescence that have left a deep impression?
The children’s books I like at this time are some of the good quality publications that we ourselves choose for our children. These include: Timeline, Wonderful Encounter, Dada’s Art Initiation Series, Empty Fridge, The Largest Cake in the World, Bizzy Bear, Creative Master Series and other quality children’s books. The books that have left a deep impression on me during my childhood or adolescence are Jean-Christophe, Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, Les Miserables, Dream of the Red Chamber, Ordinary World, and 10,000 Whys, among others.
What is or are the biggest differences in running a children's book business and running a finance related book business?
The biggest differences are in the people you serve, in the selection rationale of the content, in processing of content and quality control standards, as well as in the value transmission and sharing mechanisms. It would appear that other than the requirement to pursue a high quality, everything else is different.
How should we understand the new media business ecology citickids is committed to create?
citickids isn’t creating a new media ecology really. Rather, the new media business ecology has always been around. We’re simply leveraging the strength of new media business ecology to maximize the impact of good quality children’s reading products and services.
What is the proportion of imported versions of children’s books at citickids? Do you think imported versions of books have a distinct advantage?
The proportion of imported books at citickids has fallen quite dramatically in 2017. Local versions of books have enormous room for increase and potential. We already have a selection of close to 200 local topics in our reserve. Books imported from overseas have more experience in many areas such as creativity, as well as application of cognitive science in the design of reading products. We need to work hard to better learn from the experiences of countries with sophisticated cultural creativity industries.
What are some of the areas you think original works of children’s books from China have done quite well? In what areas are improvements still required?
In the entire children’s book publishing sector, China's local books account for more than 70% of the market, while books imported from overseas comprise only about 30%. This is particularly the case for children’s literature, where the market share of local Chinese children’s literature is larger than 90%. In many areas such as Chinese ancient civilization studies for children, and motivational stories for children, local Chinese books have absolute dominance. Given rapid growth in children's books over the last decade or so, the strength of the content of local Chinese original works has already developed very swiftly with very high growth. Children and youths are also more willing to read local works, which is a reflection of self-awakening to mother tongue culture and Chinese culture.
However, in the areas of picture books, science education, animation, and toy and game books, among others, where the social coordination system’s demand for quality is higher, the capability of local Chinese original works is weaker on a comparative basis mainly because we started later, and the standard of the social coordination system is lower. Unlike children’s literature and other original works which are comparatively independent, the individual capacity for original works of Chinese authors is by no means inferior to those in developed countries; there are peaks but no plateaus. Thus, with gradual economic and cultural growth, this phenomenon will be transformed gradually.
How far away are we from a “fair and good” children’s book market?
The market has always been fair and good but the premise is a truly market-oriented market. At this time, there is still immense room for a higher level of marketization in the children’s book market. We need to better operate the children’s book publishing business according to the laws of the market. If most of the competing players are true market-oriented enterprises; the choice of users, adequate and free; and intervention from administrative powers appropriate, then this market will grow into a sound, orderly, fair and good market. Marketization issues require market-oriented policies and solutions. A market that does not operate according to market-oriented laws will find it difficult to develop and thrive. On that basis, our aspirations to go global and export culture will become all the more difficult. Put another way, if policy intervention can resolve cultural export issues, then we certainly do not need to have a true market economy.
Translation: Cheang Yee
