The annual exhibition at the City Hall organised by the Hong Kong Publishing Federation could be regarded as the predecessor of the Hong Kong Book Fair. The First Hong Kong Book Fair was held in 1990 and this year it is its 20th year. The Fair has become an annual major event in Hong Kong with the number of visitors reaching new high every year. The organiser, the HKTDC, has always been striving to promote local reading culture. Apart form extensively inviting the public to the Fair to visit and buy books, it also spares no effort in organising diversified cultural activities during the Book Fair period with a view to enhance the contents and quality of the Fair.

During the past 19 years the number of exhibitors has grown from 149 to 485 in 2008, with corresponding growth of attendance from 200,000 to 830,000 in 2008. The Fair has developed from a mere promotion platform for the industry to an annual territory-wide major reading and cultural event for the public of Hong Kong.