UK readers set a new record in translated fiction sales in 2018, with Chinese science-fiction and fantasy novels contributing to the surge.

The Guardian in an article on March 6 highlighted the "extreme growth" in translated literary fiction sales, up 20 percent in 2018 compared with the previous year.

"Chinese science-fiction and fantasy novels such as Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem and Jin Yong's A Hero Born sold strongly," said the British daily newspaper.

According to annual research commissioned by the Man Booker International (MBI) prize, total sales of translated fiction in the UK increased last year by 5.5 percent, amounting to a value of 184m yuan (￡20.7m) – the highest figure since the research was first conducted in 2001.