The sales of publications in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region surged by over 84 percent in 2016, according to a report made public on Tuesday.

The report, published by the Books and Periodicals Distribution Association of China, said although Tibet topped the country in terms of sales growth, publication sales in the country's 12 western provincial-level regions accounted for only 15.8 percent of the national total.

The report showed that the total sales of publications in China reached nearly 350 billion yuan (about 53 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, increasing by 7.2 percent year on year.

Beijing topped the country in terms of publication sales, followed by provinces of Jiangsu, Hubei, Shandong and Hunan, according to the report.

It also pointed out that as of the end of 2016, there were 818 bookstores in China that covered an area of more than 1,000 square meters each, up 4.2 percent from the previous year.

Brick-and-mortar book shops are believed to enjoy better development opportunities under the support and guidance from government policies and cooperation with online bookstores.