People read books at a Xinhua bookstore in Shanghai, July 26, 2015. [Photo/VCG]

Xinhua group explores ways to boost growth and improve customer service with internet-based ideas and style

Mao Jianping likes to pop into the Shanghai Book Mall and immerse himself in maps.

The 68-year-old usually takes a bus from the suburb of the city's Jiading district to the seven-story, downtown building on Fuzhou Road, which is owned by the Xinhua Bookstore Group.

Mao can usually be found on the ground floor in the tour guides and geographical area next to books on cooking, pet care and gardening.

"I like to locate the places I used to visit," he said as he glances up from a map of the Yangtze Delta region. "I've been to many parts of the country and have lots of good memories."

Mao often spends hours there, looking for historical and geographical titles.

But then he is not alone. Traditional bookshops are going through a renaissance in China.

The country's largest State-owned franchise, Xinhua Bookstore Group, is thriving after substantial financial support from the government.

During the past few years, 500 million yuan ($75.96 million) has been injected into the sector.

More than 300 million yuan was used to renovate and expand Xinhua bookstores nationwide, according to Zhou Huilin, deputy head of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and TV, at an annual forum during last month's Shanghai Book Fair.

"Xinhua Bookstore can play a positive role promoting the nation's development theory and strategic policies, as well as providing spiritual food for readers," said Liu Qibao, head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Value Added Tax, or VAT, on hard copy books will be waived, saving the sector 5 billion yuan in another major move to breathe new life into the industry.

Modern business models and new locations were also discussed as representatives from 31 city branches of the Xinhua Bookstore Group chatted about trends at the forum.

"The comeback of (traditional) bookstores has been an obvious (success) in Shanghai, as well as other parts of China," said Peng Weiguo, vice-director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Press and Publication.

More than 20 new stores have opened, or will open, there this year.

In Shenzhen, there are four Xinhua bookstores with another one under construction. During the next five years, five more stores are planned.

"We will have a large Xinhua bookstore in every district and a small (one) in every community," said Chen Xinliang, head of Shenzhen Xinhua Bookstore. "New outlets will be funded by local government and Shenzhen Xinhua Bookstore."

The high-tech manufacturing city in Guangdong province already has 27 small Xinhua community shops, which offer free services for children, along with its traditional retail business.

"Students leave school at 4:30 pm, so we provide various activities for them until 6:30 pm when parents can pop in and pick them up," Chen said.

Local government support means rent, power, water bills and management fees for these stores are picked up by the authorities.

In a bizarre twist, the retail market for traditional books has enjoyed 10 percent annual growth in the past few years.

Overall sales grew by 12.3 percent in 2016, although bookshop purchases dropped by 2.23 percent, data released last month by Open Book Information Technology highlighted.

Last year, China's book retail market totaled 70.1 billion yuan with online sales accounting for 36.5 billion yuan and traditional stores raking in 33.6 billion yuan.

"(Traditional) bookstores are still facing great challenges," said Zhang Lin, deputy manager of the Xinhua Bookstore in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

To cope with the situation, the shop is developing innovative ideas.

Back in 2014, Heilongjiang Xinhua Bookstore opened Gogol shops in Harbin, capital city of the province.

They were in sharp contrast to the traditional "large and comprehensive" Xinhua bookstores.

The Gogol shops have a cozy and elegant ambiance, and stage literary and theatrical events, which have become a cultural feature. The success encouraged more Xinhua branches in the province to update interior designs and services.

Up to 20 Xinhua stores have been renovated this year, five of which were named "the most beautiful bookshops" in a nationwide competition.

"The renovation has brought growing business revenue too," Zhang said.

In 2014, the first 24-hour Xinhua Bookstore was opened in Anhui province.

A lending library system has since been launched, which allows readers to borrow books, as part of a 99 yuan 10-day service.

An online platform run by the store now has 3 million registered users. In a 30-day period, more than 120,000 books were borrowed and returned.

"To our great surprise, the sales revenue did not decrease in our (traditional) bookstores, but instead increased," said Cao Jie, president of the Anhui Xinhua Bookstore.

This is just the start of what can only be described as a "bookstore sharing" project.

"We will create a new ecology, integrating public resources online and offline," Cao said. "You will be able to read a book before buying it and we will produce better products and services."

In Southwest China's Sichuan province, the Xinhua bookstore recommends new titles to customers and allows them to borrow books through its online platforms.

"For readers, the system is convenient, speedy and interactive," said Chen Dali, deputy general manager of the Winshare Publishing and Media Co, a subsidiary of the group, in Sichuan.

Supported by cloud data, Xinhua's electronic bookstores are open 24 hours a day in communities, institutions and on school campuses.

Statistics from one of the community terminals showed that more than 18,000 people visited the bricks-and-mortar store in three months.

"The shop has been especially popular in the evening from 8 pm to 11 pm," Chen said.

Xinhua Winshare, which is part of the chain, will build 1,000 "intelligent bookstore terminals" within three years after receiving financial support from the Sichuan provincial government.

"In a few years, the terminals will be able to operate without further financial support," Chen said.

On average, a person in China reads 4.65 printed books per year, a survey showed last year, which is less than communities in developed countries.

"This means we still have quite a large space for growth," said Zhou, deputy head of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and TV.

"With the introduction of new technologies and system innovations, China's book industry is gaining new impetus, and a new business ecology is growing, he added.