At a recent forum in Shenzhen, pundits zeroed in on 2008's major trends in China's book publishing industry.

The global economic chill has made titles in macro-economics hot, hot, hot. Since the stock market is in the doldrums, investment tips have little practical use and have given way to primers on economics. All the fancy financial terms have served as pointers for more systematic knowledge in how to run an economy, or avoid running it into the ground.