China's book retail market saw strong growth in 2016 with a year-on-year rise of 12.3 percent in sales, according to a report by the Publishers' Association of China on Friday.

Book sales reached over 70 billion yuan (10 billion US dollars), the report said.

Sales through online channels grew by 30 percent year on year, while brick-and-mortar book shops saw sales dropping by 2.33 percent, it said.

Sales of children's books surged 28.84 percent year on year, making it the largest niche market with a share of 23.51 percent.

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