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. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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 Steven ...

(1910–2004). Noyes was born in

Guangzhou, China Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

into a third generation

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

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

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

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'' ( zh, s=毛主席语录, t=毛主席語錄, p=Máo Zhǔxí Yǔlù, commonly known as the "红宝书" zh, p=hóng bǎo shū during the Cultural Revolution), colloquially referred to in the English-speaking world ...

Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong ''Quotations from Chairman Mao'' ( zh, s=毛主席语录, t=毛主席語錄, p=Máo Zhǔxí Yǔlù, commonly known as the "红宝书" zh, p=hóng bǎo shū during the Cultural Revolution), colloquially referred to in the English-speaking world ...

. At its peak before the

1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...

, 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)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and the China International Publishing Group

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. 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 mensu ...

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