Also influenced by TV presentations, books like In the Name of the People by Zhou Meisen, published in January, have become best-sellers.

China Publishing and Media Journal published a list of literary best-sellers by sales, which showed several titles having sold more than 1 million copies.

Sina.com's Asian Best Books List, as well as sales statistics from Xinhua Bookstore chains, offer more proof of the strength of this growing trend.

At the same time, Song says classics remain popular, as the press continues to sell 600,000 sets of The Four Ancient Classics every year.

Critic Lei Da affirms that the year bore witness to the prosperity of literal creations and publishing, and points out the Chinese novelists seem to have accelerated their creative output. Yet, he says we will still have to wait for a top work of the highest quality to cast a truly global influence.

Contact the writer at [email protected]

Fang Aiqing contributed to the story.