The World Takes a Shine to Chinese Literary Culture

Source: China daily

A visitor seeks information at the China Guest of Honor pavilion.

China's involvement as guest of honor at BookExpo America (BEA) has been seen as the beginning of enhanced Sino-American cultural exchanges, especially in publishing, as well as having far-reaching influences on the global appeal of Chinese literature.

The latest data from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television shows that during the event Chinese publishers signed deals to sell 1,328 copyrights to foreign markets while buying in 462 works.

International publishing consultant Ruediger Wischenbart said China hosted its biggest pavilion at the Expo, offering an experience of Chinese literary tastes through many events.

"It was like three weeks in one day," Wischenbart said. "China showed its diversity in publishing".

The Expo, one of the publishing world's key trade fairs, saw publishers, authors, librarians and retailers discuss the latest updates and new titles.

At the invitation of BEA organizer, China featured as Global Market Forum and guest of honor for the first time and sent a delegation of 500 publishing professionals and 25 top writers for the more than 130 events presented in New York and other US cities.

Two publishing professionals swap ideas at a Chinese publisher's booth.

"BEA has never seen anything in scale like this," said Steve Rosato, the event manager.

Chen Yingming, head of the Chinese delegation, said China's appearance showcased its development in publishing to US counterparts and "revealed the publishers' resolution and confidence in stepping up their efforts to attract more global appeal".

Besides some 10,000 new titles on show, tens of Chinese titles in English were launched, featuring Chinese development, victory in the world anti-Fascist war, Chinese literature and art. President Xi Jinping's book The Governance of China drew attention with a symposium held centered on the volume.

Chinese books, for the first time, gained an important foothold at the US' celebrated Barnes and Noble bookstore where they were presented in a special area.

Besides cultural exhibitions in New York, including a photo show at the United Nations headquarters, established Chinese writers were involved in exchanges and meeting readers.

"I first landed in New York some 17 years ago. This time I feel things are different: Chinese writers are fully respected and we see our influence here," said celebrated reportage writer He Jianming, adding that during exchanges with local students, each of the eight Chinese writers took two-three questions from their audience.

President Xi Jinping's book is highlighted at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York, the event venue.

Government data from August last year reveals that China published 444,427 titles in 2013, accounting for 8.3 billion copies, creating a business worth 234.6 billion yuan ($37.8 billion).

The United States and United Kingdom are China's top partners in terms of copyright trade. In 2013 China bought in 18,167 copyrights of foreign publications, among which 6,210 were from the US and 2,698 from the UK, data showed.

The same year, the country sold a total of 10,401 copyrights of Chinese publications to the international market, 1,266 to the US and 731 to the UK.

Though remaining unbalanced, Chinese publishers have already taken huge steps. In 2002 the ratio of imported copyrights to those of exported ones was 15 to 1.

Attending international book fairs is considered a positive move for Chinese titles to gain more global appeal.

"The Chinese guest of honor appearance is a hard act to follow," said Urszula Gacek, Polish consul general in New York, whose country will be guest of honor at next year’s event in Chicago.

A visitor looks at a list of Chinese events.

Chinese writer Xu Zechen (Center)  joins a talk with American writer Dale Peck and translator Eric Abrahamsen.

The Chinese pavilion had a display where visitors could print a Chinese character.

A visitor is attracted to a display of ancient prints.