(Yicai Global) Jan. 9 -- China's book sales exceeded CNY100 billion (USD14.7 billion) for the first time ever last year amid rising prices of new titles. The year's bestseller was Yu Hua's To Live.

Book sales rose 14.4 percent to CNY102.3 billion from 2018, according to a report published by Time Publishing and Media, as well as Beijing OpenBook. Online bookstores sold 70 percent of the total, clinging to dominance for the fourth straight year while outgrowing physical retail outlets. 

Contemporary Chinese author Yu Hua sold the biggest number of his To Live novel that depicts a pampered landlord heir's journey toward becoming a kindhearted peasant. Among children's books, Japanese Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window was the most popular.

Literature became more expensive over the year as the median price of new titles rose by CNY5 to CNY45 (to USD6.50). However, the volume of new releases fell 6.7 percent to 194,000 copies from a year earlier. 

Editor: Emmi Laine