However, Niels Peter Thomas, managing director of Books, Springer Nature, says although publishing is going digital, printed books sometimes do help students study more efficiently. As a result, it is necessary to combine digital with print so students can choose, he says, which is one trend he observed in educational publishing.

Other trends in educational publishing, he says, include more personalized content to reflect the complex reality with trans-disciplinary publications and building a network of knowledge by connecting educational resources and backgrounds, theories and case studies, disciplinary solutions and localized applications.

Publishing more than 1,000 books each year, Springer Nature, one of the world's largest publisher of academic books, has cooperated with nearly 100 Chinese publishers.

To create top educational publications for students of different countries, publishers need to fully understand the local markets and borrow technology and experience from mature markets, which means cooperating with publishers worldwide, Thomas says.

Wang, from the top Chinese educational publisher with more than 700 international partners, stresses that "international cooperation is more important now than ever before. No single publisher can meet all the demands and personalized requirements on their own".

Contact the writer at [email protected]