There is a big demand and we are already printing more copies

Book distributor Lau Tat-man

The book - whose Chinese title is June 4th: The True Story - reproduces what are said to be the details of meetings by China's Communist Party leaders discussing how to handle the protesters.

Many of them were subsequently killed when troops and tanks moved in to break up the protest.

The English-language version of the book appeared in January and was immediately denounced by China as erroneous and a fabrication.

Brisk sales

Sales of the book are reported to be brisk.

The publishers in Hong Kong say their initial print run of 10,000 has already been bought up by bookshops.

Democracy protests: Extremely sensitive for China

"There is a big demand and we are already printing more copies," the book's distributor, Lau Tat-man, told Reuters.

However, some outlets in the former colony have refused to stock the book for fear of offending China.

The compiler of the book - who uses the pseudonym Zhang Liang - claimed to have smuggled secret documents out of Beijing.

Much of the English version which appeared in January has already been reprinted in Chinese-language newspapers.

Bigger audience

But the publication of the Chinese version in Hong Kong is a sensitive matter as it has a lot of new information.

It is double the size of the English one and is likely to bring the contents of the papers to a far bigger audience.

Observers in Hong Kong say it will be hard to stop extracts from the book crossing the border into China, either in printed form or on the internet.

Pro-democracy groups are also planning to sell the book on the streets, offering it at a discount over the Easter weekend.

They hope it may help the cause of reformers within China.