Beijing book fair to woo more international readers with upgrades

Fans of bestselling adult coloring book Secret Garden will be invited to color in wall-sized copies of the beloved illustrations at New China International Exhibition Center in Beijing during the upcoming 2015 Beijing International Book Fair.

The fair, one of the world's biggest book gatherings, will be on from Aug 26 to 30.

The weather vane of Chinese publishing and reading, as well as the most important platform for copyright trade in the country, the book fair this year upgraded its events and services to better appeal to international participants, said Zhang Jichen, general manager of China National Publications Import & Export Corp., one of the fair's organizers.

"We strengthen the trend of digitalization and highlight children's books this year, as we will launch the first BIBF children's book hall,"Zhang said.

At the first BIBF Picture Book Exhibition, which will be featured in the children's hall, more than 10,000 kinds of picture books in 13 languages will be displayed.

"Children’s books are the major boost for global publishing, we have recognized the phenomenon and the new BIBF arrangement will cater to the needs of the market," said Lin Liying, also from the corporation.

The 2015 fair attracted 2,270 publishers from 82 countries, an increase of 5 percent compared with last year, according to the organizer. The number of overseas participants to join the fair has risen 6.3 percent year-on-year.

A total of 270,000 titles will be displayed in five halls, covering an area of 66,000 square meters.