China's General Administration of Press and Publication screens all books before publication in China, and censorship is standard procedure.
Critical talk regarding human rights, Tibet or the Communist Party is off limits. Reporting on the wealth of Chinese officials is also forbidden.
Publishers that skirt the rules are quickly shut down, leaving authors with a choice: Agree to censorship or forfeit access to 1.4 billion potential readers.
Books are often smuggled into China from jurisdictions including Hong Kong, where publishers enjoy more freedom. Bookstores in the city overflow with works on everything from President Xi Jinping to the devastating Chinese famine that killed upwards of 45 million people during the Great Leap Forward.
