Spotlight on China: Navigating Access, Open Access, and Growth in a Rapidly Shifting Academic Market
Why are some small and mid-sized publishers expanding in China while others struggle to renew even long-standing subscriptions? The answer isn’t budget, portfolio strength, or price point. It’s understanding that in China, publishing success depends on something more fundamental: treating every sale as the beginning of a partnership, not the end of a transaction.
This Spotlight, developed with insights from our China representative Ben Liang, explores the realities of the Chinese academic market in 2026: the pressures institutions are navigating, the opportunities emerging for international publishers, and the practical conditions under which Read-and-Publish and Subscribe-to-Open models gain momentum.
China remains one of the most strategically important, yet complex, academic markets globally. For publishers, success depends not only on content quality, but on deep local understanding, long-term relationship building, and the ability to align global strategies with national policy and institutional priorities. For small and medium-sized publishers, managing this independently is increasingly challenging.
Drawing on KGL Accucoms’ extensive experience across China, this Spotlight outlines what’s changing, what’s working, and what publishers need to know to grow sustainably.
The China Academic Market: Key Challenges
Even though China remains a major research powerhouse, the academic information market has become more constrained and more scrutinised by government since 2021. Publishers today face:
• Sharp and ongoing library budget reductions, with recovery slower than expected
• Longer sales cycles, often spanning multiple financial years
• Increasing content sensitivity and censorship, particularly in HSS
• Rapid adoption of AI, raising expectations for data, analytics, APIs and system integration
• Greater institutional pressure to demonstrate value and performance
Question for Ben: How do budget discussions and approval processes typically work inside Chinese university libraries, and how does this differ from Western markets? How important are relationships and cultural fluency for navigating these processes effectively?
Emerging Opportunities: An Evidence-Led Market
Despite these pressures, Chinese institutions remain strategic and selective buyers. Decisions are increasingly:
• Evidence-based and data-driven
• Aligned with national policy and institutional development goals
• Influenced by both library analysis and faculty recommendations
Evidence-Based Acquisition (EBA) programmes are becoming central to decision-making, often used alongside faculty endorsements and local research performance indicators.
Question for Ben: How influential are faculty recommendations compared with library-led analysis? Who typically has final authority in purchasing decisions?
Pre- and Post-Sales Support: Partnership, Not Transaction
Strong content alone is rarely enough in China. Institutions expect ongoing partnership, not a transactional sale. The publishers who succeed are those who actively help librarians justify investment, demonstrate usage, and support local academic communities.
Effective support includes:
• Institution-specific evidence to underpin acquisition
• Denial reports showing unmet demand
• Tailored trial and usage reports
• China-specific author lists and local impact summaries
• Faculty-ready recommendation templates
• Performance-reporting support for renewals
• Transparent CPD, usage patterns, and APC insights
• Local-language communication where appropriate
This proactive support can be the deciding factor between a renewal and a cancellation.
Open Access in China: Slow but Structured Growth
China’s Open Access growth has been steady, but momentum is building:
• The first OA conversion agreement was signed in May 2020
• Most agreements to date have been concentrated in Beijing
• Read-and-Publish remains dominant
• OA uptake is considerably slower than in Europe or North America
• Globally, ~800 R&P agreements are registered with ESAC, highlighting both building global momentum and China’s room to expand
China also plays a significant role in key OA initiatives such as:
• NSTL (National Science and Technology Library)
• SCOAP³
Question for Ben: To what extent do OA policies, institutional KPIs, and research-assessment frameworks shape willingness to enter OA agreements?
Read-and-Publish: Established and Expanding
Since 2020, numerous leading academies and universities have adopted R&P agreements, particularly in STM fields. Key trends include:
• Early movement from national academies
• Expansion into major Tier 1 research universities
• Increasing negotiation sophistication, from article caps to reporting requirements
• Growing expectations for publisher transparency, responsiveness, and localisation
Question for Ben: What are the most common sticking points in R&P negotiations, and how can publishers prepare effectively?
Subscribe-to-Open (S2O): Building Trust, Growing Renewals
China has also become an important contributor to successful S2O programmes. While new S2O pilots are steady, renewals are strong—an important signal of perceived value and reliability.
Success is driven by:
• Regular publication and author data
• Frequent usage reporting
• Local-language author support, including social media
• Detailed subject-level insights and performance reports
• Help for libraries balancing subscription spend against APC exposure
Question for Ben: How do Chinese authors perceive S2O versus APC-based OA, and what messaging resonates most strongly?
Navigating a Changing Landscape: Why Local Expertise Matters
China’s academic market in 2025 is undergoing significant structural change. The Xin Chuang (信创) initiative—focused on information security and domestic innovation—is accelerating the adoption of local platforms. At the same time:
• Budget constraints are driving more rigorous renewal assessments
• Some institutions are pausing major subscriptions due to sustained price increases
• Universities are making strategic, value-driven platform decisions
This is not a shrinking market, but it is an evolving one. The opportunity is still significant. But publishers must navigate:
• National policy shifts
• Local procurement structures
• Changing institutional priorities
• Growing scrutiny of ROI
• Increasing expectations for data transparency
Why Market Expertise Matters More Than Ever
Success in China cannot be achieved remotely or reactively. Publishers who perform well combine:
• Long-term commitment and credibility
• Local language and cultural fluency
• Regular on-the-ground engagement
• Data-rich sales and renewal strategies
• Flexibility across subscription and OA models
• A genuine partnership mindset
This is where KGL Accucoms’ China expertise makes a measurable difference: helping publishers navigate complexity, respond to institutional expectations, and build sustainable, trust-based partnerships in one of the world’s most influential research markets.
Want to grow your presence in China?
Our team works across the entire market—from academies to major research universities to regional institutions—helping publishers build real, long-term impact.
Contact us to find out how KGL Accucoms’ expertise can strengthen your strategy in China.