'Best time for Chinese books to reach out'

By Yang Guang and Mei Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-01 09:20
Large Medium Small

Chinese publishers are looking at the on-going 17th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) to take Chinese literature to a global audience. "This is a most propitious time to bring books from China to the notice of international readers, in the light of the success of the 2008 Olympics and the 2010 World Expo, and the current craze for learning Chinese and for knowing more about the country," said Liu Binjie, president of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) at a forum of the BIBF that began on Monday.

The country is now the world's biggest publishing market, with 7.1 billion published works representing a total business value of 1 trillion yuan in 2009, Liu said

'Best time for Chinese books to reach out'

But cultural barriers, the lack of a global perspective among Chinese writers, poor translations and inefficient marketing were standing in the way of foreigners accessing Chinese books, he said.

The BIBF has designated, for the first time, a special area to show how Chinese books have fared worldwide so far.

One of these to attract much attention at the fair is the non-fiction Confucius from the Heart by Yu Dan.

Due to copyright agent Toby Eady's efforts, it has sold out in 28 languages and become a bestseller in France and India.

GAPP confirmed that the country will be a "market focus" country of honor at the London Book Fair 2012.

That will mark the sixth year in a row that China will be country of honor at international book fairs, after the Moscow International Book Fair 2007, the Seoul International Book Fair 2008, the Frankfurt Book Fair 2009, the Thessaloniki International Book Fair 2010, and the Cairo International Book Fair 2011.

"China will take advantage of international book fairs to further promote copyright trade, strengthen exchanges in digital publishing and copyright protection, and create more opportunities for communication between writers," said Zhang Fuhai, director of GAPP's foreign cooperation department.