“Timely rain” general
Government support
After a period of low tide that closed the store for five or six years, the physical bookstore is ushering in a new round of recovery. In Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Nanjing, Hefei and other major cities in China, large state-owned bookstores and private bookstores have opened new stores. Today, the three unfavorable factors of rent cost, wage cost, and online store competition still exist. Why is the physical bookstore not shrinking, but against the trend?
“Sanlian Bookstore must not leave Haidian District.” This is the instructions issued by the relevant leaders of the Haidian District Government of Beijing when they learned that the Sanlian Bookstore Wudaokou Store was preparing to evacuate. On April 23, 2014, Sanlian Hyperbookstore Art Museum officially became the first 24-hour bookstore in Beijing after one month of trial operation. In view of the good results, Sanlian Bookstore opened a second 24-hour bookstore in an office building in Wudaokou, Haidian District one year later. However, in the two years since its opening, due to insufficient passenger flow, Wudaokou has suffered a serious loss and almost ate the entire profit of the bookstore. Under pressure, Sanlian Bookstore is ready to withdraw. However, the Haidian District Government immediately contacted the bookstore and asked the “Sanlian Bookstore to leave Haidian District”. The Haidian District Government will choose another land for Sanlian to build a new bookstore in the most densely populated area of Wudaokou.
Almost at the same time, the Chaoyang District Government also extended an olive branch to the Sanlian Bookstore, inviting Sanlian to open a new store in Beijing’s fashionable landmark and popular Sanlitun, and it was free of rent and responsible for renovation costs. “We can enter the bag,” said Yan Defang, the general manager of Sanlian’s bookstore. “In the Sanlitun, which is a land of gold, the government has given us 800 square meters of house to us, and we don’t want rent. This kind of support is unprecedented. You know, Rents can account for more than 60% of the bookstore’s operating costs. For bookstores, government support is called ‘timely rain’.”
In the interview with this newspaper, the physical bookstore practitioners generally said that the policy environment and market environment of the bookstore have been greatly improved, especially the government’s support is increasing, which has reduced the pressure on the bookstore and enhanced the confidence of development.
Qian Xiaohua, the founder of the famous private bookstore in Nanjing, said that from the perspective of 2016 and 2017, the development of physical bookstores can be described as spring and rain, and this is closely related to the government’s support. The Pioneer Bookstore Wutaishan Head Office received a discount from the local government for low-cost rents; the Pioneer Bookstore was supported by the Qinhuai District Government in the newly opened Junhui Bookstore in the old historical and cultural district of Nanjing, and the rent was only half of that of other shops.
Since 2013, in the face of the collapse of physical bookstores, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television coordinated the Ministry of Finance, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration of Taxation and other departments, and continued to introduce support policies. According to statistics, only the wholesale and retail links of the book are exempted from VAT for 5 years, and the bookstores are tax deductible and tax-free for more than 5 billion yuan each year; the Ministry of Finance has arranged for an entity bookstore to award 670 million yuan in five years.
The support of local governments is also increasing. In 2016, Beijing took out 18 million yuan to support the development of 71 physical bookstores. From 2012 to 2016, Shanghai has invested 60 million yuan to support physical bookstores. In the past two years, Chengdu, Sichuan Province has invested a total of 11.58 million yuan to provide support for 41 physical bookstores. Suining City provides the best venues in the newly built cultural center and is exempt from three-year rents for physical bookstores. Up to now, 25 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) have issued implementation opinions to support the development of physical bookstores.
Ge Jun, deputy general manager of Jiangsu Xinhua Distribution Group, told reporters that the recovery of the physical bookstore in this round is inseparable from the increasingly strong reading environment created by the government. The physical bookstore is not only a place to sell books, but also an important part of spreading mainstream ideological culture, creating a cultural atmosphere, and providing public cultural services. After the 18th party, the government’s understanding of the public cultural nature of the physical bookstore was more profound, and the support measures were more concrete and practical, which promoted the reform and innovation of the physical bookstore.
The relevant person in charge of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television stated that the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has always cared and valued the development of physical bookstores. General Secretary Xi Jinping personally made important instructions and gave cordial care to the development of physical bookstores.
According to relevant sources, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation and other departments are very satisfied with the results achieved by the government in supporting physical bookstores. The policy of exempting the value-added tax on wholesale and retail of books will continue after the expiration.
