Beijing International Book Fair reaches new heights

During the 26th Beijing International Book Fair, the five-day grand gathering of people who read, write and publish, a total of 5,996 copyright agreements were reached, an increase of 5.6 percent over last year, representing a new high, according to its organizing committee on Sunday.

Also, as the book fair strengthens the convergence of new technology and publishing, readers had the chance to see holographic images of writers A Lai and Liu Zhenyun at book talks, as well as Wang Yaping, the female astronaut who traveled into space with the Shenzhou X spacecraft.

5G connections enabled the images to be presented smoothly and with minimum pauses and delay. And wider 5G applications in reading and publishing were also showcased as highlights in the fair.

Among the agreements reached, 3,840 involved selling Chinese titles to world audiences, making the ratio of copyright export and import 1.78 to 1.

Publishers savored the chances the world's second-largest book fair delivered. Chinese publishers sought more international cooperation, while foreign publishers saw it as a doorway into not only the Chinese book market but also that of Asia.

Helen Kogan, with the London-headquartered international publisher Kogan Page Publishing, said she has benefited from sales increases in the Chinese market by attending the fair, and she has also expanded trade with South Korean, Vietnamese and Indonesian publishers during the Beijing fair.

The fair attracted 1,600 overseas publishing organizations from 95 countries and regions, including publishers from 30 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Topics on China's development, the Chinese experience, the Party, literature, science and technology, and children's stories have been popular Chinese content in copyrights sold to the world.

During the fair, 1,186 book and reading events were held, attracting 320,000 audience members, including 175,000 professionals.