Liu Cixin is recently named "writer of the year".[Photo provided to China Daily]

Besides, there are only a handful of known sci-fi writers in the country.

But by winning a top international award, Liu has debunked the theory that Chinese sci-fi writers lack imagination.

"The readership will mature in time and so will the market (in China)," says Liu, holding out hope.

Italian scientist and writer Giulio Prisco, who has read The Three-Body Problem in English, describes the book as a classic and "vintage space opera".

"Chinese writers are taking the lead in bold, imaginative science fiction (that is) able to ignite minds and energize whole generations," Prisco says.

Although he was born in Beijing, Liu's soldier-turned-miner father and schoolteacher mother moved the family to Yangquan, a small town in Shanxi province, when he was very young.

He grew up to become an engineer and was first posted at a State-run power plant.

British-born sci-fi master Arthur C. Clarke's works offered him his "first shock and enlightenment", and Liu began to write in his spare time in the late 1980s.

In 1999, Liu debuted as a writer after his short story was published in the Sci-fi World magazine. Then he published books and started winning prizes. He became a full-time author in 2014.

In April, Liu met with a small group of reporters in Beijing after he was named "writer of the year" by the China Writers Rich List, an annual celebration of the country's popular writers.

At the press interaction, Liu gave a wide variety of responses to questions, from comparing apocalypse in sci-fi writing to romance in literature, and why British physicist Stephen Hawking's plans of long-distance travel by a micro spacecraft has flaws in terms of energy.

Liu says while sci-fi is a niche category in China, it could contribute to mainstream literature.