Book fair to open in S China next year

BEIJING - China will hold its national book expo in Hainan, the country's southern island province, next year, the General Administration of Press and Publication announced on Tuesday.

The 23rd National Books Expo will be held in April. The Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center in the provincial capital Haikou will serve as the main expo venue, and three branch venues will be set up in the cities of Sanya, Danzhou and Wanning, the GAPP said at a press conference.

Co-sponsored by the GAPP and the Hainan provincial government, the expo will feature a series of cultural events such as a symposium on innovation and the development of China's publishing industry and programs to promote reading among the public.

On Tuesday, organizers also unveiled the expo's logo and launched the expo's website.

The last expo was held in northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region in May. It attracted more than 300,000 exhibitors and visitors, and the total fixed price of publications traded exceeded 1 billion yuan ($160.46 million).