BEIJING — China's book market continued to expand in the first half of this year, up nearly 11 percent year-on-year, China Daily reported on Aug 5.

Online book sales surged by more than 24 percent from the previous year, while sales at brick-and-mortar stores dropped by nearly 12 percent, the paper said, citing an industry report released by Beijing-based research company Openbook.

Children's books continued to top the best-sellers, accounting for 27 percent of overall sales, said the paper.

The country's book market grossed 89.4 billion yuan (about $12.9 billion) last year.