Crichton sells in China, and HarperCollins buys Chinese children's books

HarperCollins hasn't so much sold to as teamed up with Chinese publisher Jilin Publishing Group to publish Michael Crichton in China. HarperCollins Worldwide President Brian Murray made the announcement yesterday in Beijing. Jilin will start publishing the Crichton oeuvre with Next, which is being released in trade paperback this month. In addition, they're planning to do Chinese-language editions of The Andromeda Strain, The Great Train Robbery, and Airframe.

And running the deal in the opposite direction, Murray also said that HC has acquired two titles in a series from local bestseller, Hongying Yang. The series, Diary of a Smiling Cat, is aimed at readers aged 7-9. It was acquired from Tomorrow Publishing House and will be published by HC simultaneously in English worldwide. The books "follow a talking cat that communicates with its owner," and were published in China in 2006, where they have already sold more than three million copies.