In 2025, after several years of large-scale expansion and cost-driven extensive growth, the domestic hardcover book industry entered a more rational adjustment period. That year, market differentiation became increasingly evident: "paperback hardcover" in mass channels continued to face pressure, while high-end products targeting collectors and aesthetic readers began to actively revisit traditional craftsmanship details. Overall, the industry's key words were no longer "bigger and thicker", but "durability" and "distinctive texture"

I. Core binding process: popularization and grading of sewn binding

As the structural cornerstone of hardcover books, sewn binding has become the standard for the vast majority of regular publications by 2025. Whether it's literary classics or art albums, consumers generally use "whether it's sewn or not" as a basic yardstick to judge the sincerity of the hardcover. However, there has been a clear differentiation in craftsmanship within the industry: high-end products adopt high-density sewing (with stitch spacing controlled within 18mm, using cotton wax threads), while the stitch spacing for standard mass-produced products is relaxed to over 25mm, and some even use synthetic fibers to reduce costs. This difference does not affect the opening and closing of the pages in the short term, but the risk of pages falling apart after long-term flipping increases. It is worth noting that in 2025, several printing factories introduced an online sewing quality detection system, which can automatically identify skipped stitches and loose threads, which has raised the overall lower limit to some extent.

II. The game of implicit reinforcement layers: paper-backed gauze and duchou cloth

In 2025, discussions regarding the "invisible craftsmanship" significantly intensified within the industry. The use of paper-backed gauze, a crucial reinforcement layer connecting the book block and the cover, exhibited a polarized trend. According to industry sampling observations, approximately 40% of hardcover books priced below 80 yuan omitted paper-backed gauze, opting instead for ordinary non-woven fabric or direct adhesion with hot melt adhesive; whereas products priced above 150 yuan generally reverted to the composite structure of gauze + paper backing, with some high-end customized books even adopting double-layer gauze to enhance the roundness strength. Simultaneously, the long-neglected detail of the headband ushered in a "vintage trend" in 2025. Numerous independent publishing houses explicitly required the use of headbands made of high-density cotton webbing, rather than thin chemical fiber bands, at the upper and lower ends of the spine. The reason is that collectible readers began to judge the binding quality based on the texture of the headband - a tightly and rigid headband can effectively prevent the spine ends from tearing due to frequent insertion and removal, and its color and wear resistance have also become implicit indicators for measuring the lifespan of hardcovers

III. Environmental friendliness and functional segmentation of lining materials

In 2025, environmental protection policies continued to tighten, imposing higher requirements on fine-quality paper. The application of kraft paper in the field of endpapers and lining pages further expanded, but the formula underwent significant changes: traditional pure wood pulp kraft paper was partially replaced by high-proportion recycled pulp kraft paper due to high costs. Although the latter met green certification, its folding endurance decreased by 15%-20%. To this end, some printing houses that focus on quality began to adopt "double-layer kraft paper lining pages", which involves attaching a narrow strip of high-strength kraft paper at the root of the endpaper to distribute the opening and closing stress. Another noteworthy trend is the functional revival of crepe paper