GUANGZHOU: A private book-distribution company is for the first time running a giant book fair in Guangzhou but the city's publishers and visitors seem to be keeping away in droves.

Opening on November 16 and closing tomorrow (Nov. 21), the 2004 Yangcheng Book Fair claims to be the biggest in its 24-year history. It showcases 200,000 titles, mostly new, and 5,000 of them are children's books. The six-day event was expected to pull in a million visitors but did not have an auspicious start with only 20,000 people showing up on the first day. The organizers explained that the first four days were weekdays, but expect a much larger crowd for the weekend.

The fair used to be in the hands of the local government, which waived fees to publishers to set up booths. The only condition was the books be sold at a discount. This is the first year the operation has been turned over to a private business, which is intent on transforming it from a money-losing public event into an economically-viable affair - but only five local publishers are in attendance.

Tianlin Huahan is a Guangdong-based distributor that has taken over the fair. According to Li Kui, chairman of the company, total investment in the fair amounted to 1.48 million yuan (US$179,000), including rental of exhibition spaces, decoration and promotion. But he does not expect to recoup the bulk of it as many of the tickets are complimentary passes and quite a number of booths are "gifts" to publishers rather than normal rentals.

Most Guangdong-based publishers who had to pay for their participation chose to stay out of this fair, which is construed by some industry analysts as a no-confidence vote for a private enterprise running a seemingly public affair.

Li Yang, an official at Guangzhou News and Publishing Bureau, commented: "It is a common characteristic that a private business, due to its lack of experience, starts out slowly and needs the helping hand of the government, but once up and running, it will speed up and come out ahead."

Tianlin Hanhua has moved all books under its own distribution, valued at 50 million yuan (US$6 million), to the exhibition halls, but it is generally agreed that it will lose most of its investment in the fair. As the biggest privately-owned book distributor in the province, Tianlin is rumoured to be using the fair to promote its own brand.

The real purpose is to get a toehold in the nation's 16-billion-yuan textbook market, said one expert. It needs to prove to the industry that it has the financial clout and management muscle to put on a good show for the whole business.

Hanlin's chairman concurred that the government agency in charge of reforming textbook distribution still has doubts about the capability of private businesses to handle textbook distribution. "It is not a simple job to deliver all these books to all the schools - on time and on demand," said Li Kui.

He also revealed that Hanlin is bidding for a 30-million-yuan (US$3.6 million) textbook project in another province and will get ready for a similar one in Guangdong next year. He added that, compared with the fairs in Beijing and Shanghai, the one in Guangzhou needs to build up its branding because it is not as well managed.

The local government obviously shares the same thinking. It is considering spinning off a dozen fairs, such as the Guangzhou International Chinese Book Fair and Guangzhou International Animation and Cartoon Fair, to the administration of private companies. That will help balance the interests of both the public and economic viability, they believe.

Editor: Olivia