Alice Poon Wai-han had sold fewer than 600 copies of her book on the Hong Kong property market and its domination by a few powerful developers, until a group of young activists persuaded her to translate it into Chinese.

 

Now the book, Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong - which criticises past and present governments for favouring major developers with high-land-price policies - has become the surprise hit of the Hong Kong book fair.

Almost 4,000 copies have been sold in the three weeks since the Chinese title was launched in late June, and Enrich Publishing is ready to put a third edition on the market.

 

Poon, who initially aimed the book at policymakers, knows her topic as she worked on planning and acquisition for major developers for decades before retiring in 2003.