DIGITAL SHOW: A visitor talks with the representative of a digital publisher at the China International Cultural Industries Fair held in Shenzhen on May 13-16, 2011 (LIANG XU)	FUTURE PUBLISHING: Staff demonstrate new technologies at the innovation experience center of the National Digital Publishing Base, the country's largest digital publishing cloud computing center launched in Tianjin in August 2011 (YUE YUEWEI)

More than 400 titles are currently available on the portal and the content covers traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture and therapeutic areas such as surgery and regenerative medicine, among other disciplines.

"OvidChinese fills an important gap in this fast-growth market for Chinese medical publishers who want to broaden the reach of their content through our global network and for researchers, students and healthcare practitioners who want a reliable, efficient way to search important Chinese medical literature to improve patient care, support medical studies and inform ongoing research," said Karen Abramson, President and CEO of Wolters Kluwer Health Medical Research.

Growth via partnerships

Since China's publishing market is not adequately developed and foreign capital was restricted, establishing a strategic alliance may be the ideal way for foreign investment to enter, said Fang Qing, Associate Dean of Publishing Science Department at the School of Information Management of Wuhan University in central China's Hubei Province.

Wolters Kluwer aims to expand in China through partnerships as consolidation in professional publishing accelerates in the country, McKinstry said.

Wolters Kluwer has engaged in two partnerships with Chinese publishers—Commercial Press and China Financial and Economic Publishing House.

In August 2010, Wolters Kluwer China announced that China Financial and Economic Publishing House will put all its Chinese tax and accounting content onto Wolters Kluwer's IntelliConnect publishing platform.

On an annual basis, China Financial and Economic Publishing House launches 1,300 titles, covering major publishing interests in the area of public finance, taxation, auditing, finance, international trade, and accounting.

This partnership enables Wolters Kluwer to draw its global tax and accounting content into China, providing the Chinese professional community with world-class expert information and Web-enabled solutions, McKinstry said.

In December 2010, Wolters Kluwer China signed an agreement with Commercial Press, China's first print publisher dedicated to the translation and introduction of foreign laws and regulations, to translate and publish Wolters Kluwer's legal titles for Chinese legal and business compliance professionals, academics and legislators.

"For our professional customers in the legal field in China, it's of great importance to have a comprehensive legal offering that can be leveraged across national and international borders," said Stacey Caywood, CEO Wolters Kluwer Legal and Regulatory.

"The agreement is part of our continuous efforts in China to translate and co-publish leading international legal content for the Chinese market and to provide Chinese legal content for international markets," said Chang.

As part of the company's China growth strategy, Wolters Kluwer Health division entered a joint venture with the Sichuan-based Medicom, a leading Chinese drug information and services provider, on January 19, 2011. The deal allows Wolters Kluwer Health to expand its market-leading clinical decision support and drug information business into the rapidly growing China market and creates a needed drug information infrastructure in China.

Going digital

When McKinstry took over as CEO of Wolters Kluwer in 2003, print accounted for about 70 percent of Wolters Kluwer's portfolio. With a series of digitization efforts and investment in building software and online capabilities, the online and digital segments represented 70 percent of Wolters Kluwer's total revenue last year.

It has now become a world leader in digital publishing and information distribution. McKinstry hopes that by 2012, about 75 percent of its total revenue will come from online, software and services.

Since China's admission to the WTO in 2001, China has pledged to allow the entry of foreign capital in distribution of publications.

According to China's WTO commitments, foreign investors can enter China through either sole ownership or partnership. Foreign companies can participate in the research and development of game and animation software. The technical fields of the media are accessible, including the network, digital, publishing and distribution technologies.

As a digital publishing and information distribution leader, Wolters Kluwer is sure to benefit from the Chinese market.

Official data showed that in 2010, the total revenue of China's digital publishing industry reached 105.18 billion yuan ($16.32 billion), five times 2006's total revenue.

According to the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), China's total output value in digital publishing is expected to reach 25 percent of that of the whole press and publishing industry, and the overall size will be in the leading position in the world by 2015.

McKinstry believes China will quickly adapt to the digital publishing world and her company's business technology will be a major timesaver for busy professionals.