World's readers delight in Chinese books

Chinese books are enjoying a surge in popularity overseas as growing numbers of international readers look to engage with the country's literary output, according to industry insiders.

The China Books channel on Amazon, which was launched by the US online shopping giant in 2011 with cooperation from China International Book Trading Corp, now offers 500,000 titles on China or in Chinese to readers from 185 countries or regions.

Topping its best-seller list on Sunday was Monkey, Arthur Waley's ever-popular English translation of the classic Chinese epic Journey to the West, and two Chinese New Year picture books.