(Ecns.cn) – As an industry that includes revolutionary-themed clothing, books, tourism, and collectibles, the "red economy" in China is booming this year with the 90th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Governments at all levels are trying to harvest both political and economic benefits from this resurging interest in "all things red."
Moneymaking red books
With the recently celebrated 90th anniversary of the CPC, the publishing industry has witnessed huge successes as collections of "red books" have become best sellers on the domestic market.
The Hunan People's Publishing House, located in Chairman Mao's hometown, sensed the political will of the government and has seized the opportunity to light up the country's collective memories about earlier struggles in the founding of the People's Republic of China. The publishing house is releasing a series of photo print periodicals first published from 1915 to 1949 by the CPC and other independent organizations.
With a total of 1,200 volumes, this series of red books has set a record in the industry, and become one of the most eye-catching publications celebrating the CPC's 90th anniversary.
According to Zhang Ziwen, one of the initiators of the project, the enthusiasm for "red publications" is unprecedented and more support from the government has been received now than a decade ago.
"These are expensive red collections being aimed at research institutions, including libraries and colleges. For the first edition, we will make 10 million yuan ($1.547 million) in net profits," said Zhang Ziwen.
Among the best sellers, books about the history of the CPC are extraordinarily welcome. Take the champion of its kind, A History of the Chinese Communist Party, 2nd edition for example; 1.08 million sets were sold from January to June this year with a price of 150 yuan ($23), said the China Press and Publishing Newspaper.
Wang Yong, an editor who has worked on two books of this kind, told Southern Weekend : "For best sellers in the past, we could only hope for 10,000 copies to be printed. But this year, books about the history of the Party are surprisingly hot. Take Details of the Party's History for example. We had at first only printed 5,000. This wasn’t enough to meet the needs of the market, and after five reprints, 25,000 more copies of the book have recently been put out."
Even the anniversary speeches of leaders have been printed and sold in large numbers. President Hu's speech this year was out on the market on July 3, and more than 15,000 copies had been sold by the next day in Beijing, said Southern Weekend.
"Red fashion" all the rage
As usual, during celebrations of the Party's birthday, Party flags and badges have become very popular.
Yang Juxian, a business woman who sells flags in Yiwu, a famous trading city in Zhejiang Province, told Southern Weekend she sold 100,000 flags last year, and more than 300,000 of them so far this year. According to Southern Weekend, this year, sales of Party badges also amounted to six times the number from last year.
Red Army costumes joined the "red fashion" this year and contributed significantly to the red economy.
"The profits have risen to 6 or 7 times that of last year," said Guo Xiaobo, manager of a costume rental and sales company in Beijing.
According to Guo, the company started to receive rental orders from government departments and state-owned companies beginning in April with prices at around 60 yuan ($9.2) per set. Many of these costumes were being used in red songs competitions celebrating the 90th anniversary.
"The average number of such costumes being rented out is 1,500 sets per month this year, and in the busiest months of June and July, we rented out 3,000 sets of them," Guo told Southern Weekend.
