1 According to the publication regulations issued by the Press and Publication Administration, ISBN can't be bought or sold. Violators will be punished, and serious cases will be closed for rectification.

If you want to publish a book at your own expense, it is not recommended to apply for HKISBN. Many organizations and units called HKISBN will tell you that the application fee for HKISBN is lower than that in China, but in fact, they will give you used old ISBN.

ISBN of each country and region can only be used in this region. In other words, if you apply for the HKISBN, you can't issue it in Chinese mainland. Chinese mainland's ISBN starts with ISBN 987 or 979.