"Bertelsmann had long been troubled by high costs," says Cui Juan. The book club mailed a delicately printed monthly book catalogue to its members, costing the company RMB 3 million a month. It also ran regular advertisements in popular periodicals. In 2007, it spent RMB 185,000 advertising in Duzhe magazine alone.

    In a letter of apology to its members, Bertelsmann wrote that its current financial conditions were not satisfactory, and in a "sad decision" the company had decided to terminate its book operation in China.