During the Bologna fair, 108 selected original titles were exhibited in 22 languages.

"Books on science and fantasy are on the rise," Li says.

A Chinese publisher tends to buy the copyrights for only classical and quality foreign titles, according to Bai.

Xu Zhengming, an official with the State Administration of Press and Publication, says at a symposium at the fair about trends in the children's book market that repetitive publishing of some titles happens in China, and the administration will support more original creations with funds and policies in the future.

"Love and life, dreams and growth-these are themes shared by writers everywhere," Xu says.

"We have a huge market in China, and what the writers need to do is to extend their imaginations and further promote quality," Qin Wenjun, a celebrated Chinese writer of children's books based in Shanghai, says.

Qin's Bear Bun series created along with six younger writers has become so popular that a mobile game was released recently.

In a market of 371 million readers, with an average annual growth rate of more than 10 percent in recent years, children's books account for a quarter of the country's publishing business.

Literature, picture books and encyclopedias are the top three genres that make up 74 percent of the books for children and teenagers in China.

"The problem is that the readers have too many choices," Li says.

His group will cut down on the number of titles to be published this year, and try to instead offer more quality works.

Contact the writer at meijia@chinadaily.com.cn