Hotpot of heroes

If the economic crisis continues to run rampant this year will people still rush to bookstores? Yes and no, according to industry experts who attended the 2009 Beijing Book Wholesale Expo last week.

The general feeling among industry insiders was that book sales will fall but smarter publishing houses will succeed if they cater better to the market. And the market will be going back to the future.

"The year 2009 will be a tough one for the publishing industry at least, our company is expected to see a big fall in sales," predicts Ma Dongxu, director of the Distribution Department of Chinese Workers Press.