Main content

China's Secret Picture Book Embargo

Hong Kong news reports suggest that Chinese publishers have been ordered to stop importing foreign picture books. But nothing's been officially announced. And if it's true, why?

Hong Kong news reports suggest that Chinese publishers have been ordered to stop importing foreign picture books. But nothing's been officially announced. And if it's true, why? We hear from Sidney Leng of the South China Morning Post, and from a leading children's book buyer, Fan Xiaohong, vice-president of children's publishing at the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press in China. Also in the programme, we examine the latest frontline in China's efforts to restrict the outflows of money from the country: bitcoin. The price of the famous digital currency has spiked to record highs in the last month as Chinese in particular have been buying in bulk, it seems. Nathaniel Popper is a New York Times reporter and author of "Digital Gold, Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires a book about the online currency". He tells us about the background, and the Chinese government's efforts to clamp down on the trade.

(Photo: Child reading a book. Credit: Getty Images)

Available now

18 minutes

Last on

Wed 5 Apr 2017 07:32GMT

Broadcast

  • Wed 5 Apr 2017 07:32GMT

Podcast