(Yicai Global) Sept. 4 -- China's state-owned publishing enterprise Xinhua Bookstore has opened the country's first ever unmanned bookshop in Hohhot, the capital of the northern autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, the company said in a press briefing on Sunday.

The bookstore allows customers to complete the entire purchasing process in one minute by putting books through a self-checkout machine and paying via mobile terminals.

The unmanned business model kicked off at Xinhua's new Yiyou Bookstore brand, which is a collaboration of its traditional bookstore business with official Communist Party schools. The store offers more than 10,000 high-quality books in over 3,000 genres.

Xinhua will look to expand the staffless model to other areas in the region after a trial period in Hohhot. The bookstore will also invite experts, writers and celebrities to hold public lectures and book exchange meetings as it looks to boost its role in cultural and information exchange.

Xinhua Bookstore not only constitutes a bookstore chain for Chinese authorities but is also responsible for the promotion and sales divisions of official publications in the country.