Chinese state-owned bookstore chain Xinhua Bookstore is partnering with food delivery giant Meituan to roll out a nationwide same-day book delivery service, promising to deliver books in under an hour.

The agreement, signed on Friday at the 34th National Book Expo in Hangzhou, capital of the eastern Zhejiang province, will connect the more than 10,000 Xinhua stores across China to Meituan’s instant retail network, Instashopping. Customers ordering through the network will be able to receive books in as quickly as 30 minutes. 

The initiative marks the expansion of multiple pilot initiatives in the last two years comprising several regional Xinhua branches, including in Zhejiang, Shanghai, and the southern city of Shenzhen.

Founded in 1937, Xinhua is China’s largest and oldest bookstore chain.

Instant retail combines online ordering with inventories from nearby physical stores and a network of couriers to deliver products rapidly, typically in under one hour. China’s instant retail market is expected to surpass 1 trillion yuan ($150 billion) in 2026 and double to 2 trillion yuan by 2030, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

The push into instant retail comes amid intensifying competition between China’s e-commerce platforms and weakening demand for printed books. The country’s book retail market totaled roughly 110 billion yuan in 2025, down 2% from 2024, according to a report by Chinese analytics firm OpenBook. 

Jiang Chuanyang, chairman of Xinhua’s Zhejiang branch, said at the event that China’s book market is evolving to comprise e-commerce, local instant retail, and physical bookstores. More than 100 stores in the province were active on Instashopping throughout 2025, generating combined sales of several million yuan, according to domestic media. 

But the picture is more mixed for independent bookstores.

Su Shanna, brand manager of Yinxu, a chain of five bookstores in the eastern coastal city of Xiamen, told Sixth Tone that instant delivery orders account for roughly 15% of the company’s monthly revenue. The store joined Instashopping in May 2025, and also accepts on-demand orders through its WeChat mini program, fulfilling local deliveries through courier services such as SF Express and JD Logistics.

“It’s more of a bonus than a lifeline,” Su said, noting that demand for instant book delivery remains limited to a handful of scenarios. These include parents ordering extracurricular reading materials or textbooks for their children, tourists ordering books to their hotels, and patients looking for something to read during hospitalization. 

Instant retail fills the gap where consumers need a book immediately and traditional e-commerce can’t meet the demand, according to Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Beijing-based think tank Pangoal.

But books are a low-profit business. Because instant retail platforms take a cut of bookstore sales, instant delivery is unlikely to become a major profit driver, he said. 

The service’s real value isn’t in generating significant new revenue, but in generating new revenue sources, Jiang added. “Its significance should be on how it helps bookstores reconstruct their connection to readers.”

Jiang said that bookstores are increasingly trying to become “cultural service hubs” by diversifying their revenue sources, selling tourism-related products, and integrating with the local community. Instant retail is part of this trend.

In the case of Yinxu, members pay an annual fee of 188 yuan, which gives them discounts on books, book delivery services, and tickets to local performances, as well as access to various community activities.

“The key to success depends on whether bookstores can offer irreplaceable cultural experiences and emotional value,” Jiang said.

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: Visuals from iNueng/Getty Creative/VCG, reedited by Sixth Tone)