China Books, Inc. (formerly known as China Books & Periodicals, Inc.) is the oldest distributor of books, periodicals, and other media and educational products from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is a wholesale and retail distributor of books published and printed in China, and also publishes and distributes books in the U.S. under its own imprint. China Books was founded in Chicago in 1960 by Dr.

Henry Halsey Noyes Henry Halsey Noyes (1910 – June 22, 2005) was an American writer, publisher, teacher, and distributor of Chinese books and magazines. Biography Born in Guangzhou, China, he was the son of Presbyterian missionaries William D. Noyes and Mary Steve ...

(1910–2004). Noyes was born in

Guangzhou, China Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kong ...

into a third generation

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

missionary family. Noyes’ single-minded determination to distribute "highly sensitive" material from the PRC during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

shocked Americans, who, at the time, knew very little about the PRC. Since 1969, China Books has sold over a million copies of the

Little Red Book ''Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung'' () is a book of statements from speeches and writings by Mao Zedong (formerly romanized as Mao Tse-tung), the former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, published from 1964 to about 1976 and widel ...

Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong ''Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung'' () is a book of statements from speeches and writings by Mao Zedong (formerly romanized as Mao Tse-tung), the former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, published from 1964 to about 1976 and widel ...

. At its peak before the

1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

, China Books thrived with stores in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York and employed over 50 people. China Books was instrumental in providing books, newspapers, and magazines from China which were essential to the establishing of post-1949 Chinese political and reference materials at university and other research libraries across the United States. In 2002, China Books was jointly acquired by Sino United Publishing (Holdings) Ltd.

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and the China International Publishing Group

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. As of 2012, China Books, together with

Long River Press Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...

became part of Sinomedia International Group. Its offices are located in South San Francisco, California.

References and external links

Official website
* ''Publishers Weekly''
China Takes Over China Books: The Longer Story
— Published November 10, 2003. This article is about the history of China Books and the sale of the company to Sino United Publishing and China International Publishing Group. * ''Publishers Weekly'

— Published September 24, 2007. This article is about the potential market of books from China * ''Publishers Weekly'

— Published October 16, 2007. This article is about the cultural differences between Chinese and American publishers. Note: Publishing companies established in 1960 Book publishing companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Companies based in San Mateo County, California {{US-publish-company-stub