TheChinaInternationalPublishingGroupexhibitionboothattheBeijingInternationalBookFaironAugust22COURTESYPHOTOAtthe25thBeijingInternationalBookFair(BIBF),acopyrightexportsigningceremonytookplaceonAugust22,whereitwasagreedthatthebookClassicsinRhythmandRhymeforChildrenwouldbetranslatedintosevenlanguages.
TheNewWorldPress(NWP),asubsidiaryofChinaInternationalPublishingGroup(CIPG),andPeople鈥檚LiteraturePublishingHouse(PLPH)cohostedtheevent,whereNWPsignedcontractswithpublishinghousesinRussia,SouthKorea,India,PolandandAlbania.
Thebookwillhaveanewtitle,ClassicsinRhythmandRhyme:TheBeautyofChinesePoetry,afterbeingtranslatedintoRussian,Kazakh,Kyrgyz,Korean,Hindi,PolishandAlbanian.
PublishedbyPLPHinMay,thebookincorporates30poemsfromaChinaCentralTelevisionshowthatairedfromFebruarytoApril,whichinvitedprimarilyfamoussingersandactorstosingancientpoemsintheformofpopularmusic.Another10poemsnotincludedintheshowwereaddedtothebookalongwithexplanations.
Newtechnologyisalsoemployed,asreaderscanscanaQRcodeinthebooktolistentorecordingsofpopularsongversionsofthepoemsaswellasthepoemsreadinstandardChinese.Moreover,augmentedrealitytechnologyisusedsothatreaderscanwatchclipsoftheshowbyscanningphotosinthebook.
Goingglobal
ZangYongqing,PresidentofPLPH,saidthatsellingthecopyrighttoClassicsinRhythmandRhymeforChildrenoverseasmarksasuccessfulattemptatcollaborationbetweenNWPandPLPH.Hesaidthatinthefuturehehopesthatthetwopublish-inghousescanworktogethertopromotethereleaseofmoretitlesintheClassicsinRhythmandRhymeseriesabroadinordertospreadtraditionalChineseculture.
ThankstoNWP鈥檚overseascooperativepartnershipsbuiltovertheyears,itmanagedtosellthecopyrighttothetranslationofthebookintosevenforeignlanguagesinonemonth,accordingtoNWPPresidentLiChunkai.
TheprojectisonlyoneexampleofCIPG鈥檚effortstowardinternationalization.Themediagiantpresentedover2,000booktitlesinmorethan40languagesatthisyear鈥檚BIBFwhichranfromAugust22to26.ThebooksondisplaycoveredawiderangeoftopicsincludingChineseleaders鈥檞orks,literature,traditionalcultureandChina鈥檚reformandopening-upachievements.
AnotherCIPGsubsidiary,theForeignLanguagesPress(FLP),signedcontractswithpublishinghousesfromsixcountries,namely,Spain,Albania,SriLanka,India,SingaporeandPoland,topublishsomeinstallmentsoftheUnderstandingChinaseries.
PublishedbytheFLPandwrittenbyrenownedscholarsfrombothChinaandabroad,theUnderstandingChinaseriesfocusesonChina鈥檚ongoinghistoricaltransformationandnationalrejuvenationandexplainsthesecretbehindChina鈥檚socialandeconomicprogress.
InadditiontoCIPG,anumberofotherpublishinghousesalsoeyedinternationalizationatthebookfair.Forinstance,theCommercialPresssoldthecopyrighttoitsXinhuaDictionarytoGeorgia.
TheBIBFhasbecomeoneofthethreelargestcopyrighttradingplatformsalongwiththeFrankfurtBookFairandtheLondonBookFair.
Thisyear鈥檚BIBFattractedtheparticipationof93countriesandregions,withPanama,Venezuela,KyrgyzstanandLebanontakingpartintheeventforthefirsttime.Over2,500publishinghousesparticipatedinthefair,with1,520fromoverseas,accountingfor60.2percentofthetotal.
AnumberofrenownedinternationalpublishinghousessuchasPenguinRandomHouse,TheMcGraw-HillCompaniesandOxfordUniversityPresswerepresentattheevent.UKpublishershadalargepresenceattheevent,with56occupyinganareaof850squaremeters,makingitthelargestBritishdelegationinBIBFhistory.
ThesigningceremonyofthecopyrightlicensingagreementforClassicsinRhythmandRhyme:TheBeautyofChinesePoetry,attheBIBFonAugust22COURTESYPHOTOInnovationandbooks
Thisyear鈥檚fairalsofeaturedtheintegrationofthetraditionalpublishingindustrywithnewtechnology.
Forexample,theEncyclopediaofChinaPublishingHousehadanexhibitiontitledTheGrandCanalthatFlowedThroughTime,usingdigitalimagesandanimationtodisplaytheTongzhou(southeastBeijing)sectionoftheGrandCanalduringtheMingDynasty(1368-1644)onathree-meterhighand25-meterlongLEDscreen.Inaddition,thepublishinghousewillreleaseabookonthetopicinover10countriesinAugust2019topresenttheiconicGrandCanalabroad.
Thecanalistheworld鈥檚longestartificialwaterwayandruns1,797kmfromBeijingtoHangzhouineastChina鈥檚ZhejiangProvince.ThesectiondisplayedatthefairwasBeijing鈥檚sub-administrativecenteroftoday.
InotherpartsofChinathepublishingindustryalsotookcenterstage.The15thShanghaiBookFairtookplacefromAugust15to21andlaunchedalargernumberofnewbooksthaninanyotheryear.
XuJiong,DirectoroftheShanghaiMunicipalAdministrationofPressandPublications,saidmanyofthenewbooksreflectthethemesofthetimesanddealwithhottopics,satisfyingreaders鈥檔eeds.Forexample,abookaboutthechipindustrysoldover1,000copiesafteritslaunchatthefair.
Theorganizersofthisyear鈥檚eventalsomadeuseofdistrictlibraries,brick-and-mortarbookstoresandsmalllibrariesinruralareasin16districtsofShanghaitocarryoutsub-sessionsinordertoreachmorereaders.Inaddition,thenumberofvenuesselectedthisyearincreasedfrom40lastyearto100.
AnotherhighlightofthebookfairwasShanghaiInternationalLiteraryWeekheldconcurrentlywiththefair.UnderthethemeofTheMeaningofTravel,thefairattractedover20famouswriters,poetsandscholarsforin-depthdiscussionsaboutthesignificanceoftravelincontemporarysociety.Nearly40literaryexchanges,includinginternationalforumsandapoetrynight,addedtotheculturalatmosphereoftheinternationalmetropolis.
PriortothebookfairsinShanghaiandBeijing,the28thNationalBookExpowasheldinShenzhen,anotherfirst-tiercityinsouthChina鈥檚GuangdongProvince,fromJuly19to22.ItwasthethirdcitytoholdtheexpotwiceafterBeijingandChengduinsouthwestChina鈥檚SichuanProvince.
HeldattheShenzhenConventionandExhibitionCenterandfivesubcentersinLuohu,Futian,Nanshan,BaoanandLonggangdistricts,theeventattractedover450,000enthusiastsandhadasalesvolumeof81.12millionyuan($11.9million).
Oneimportantfeatureoftheexpowasinnovation,whereShenzhen鈥檚first24-hourintelligentbookstorewasunveiled.Atthe15-square-meterstore,whichcombinesthesaleofbookswithculturalandcreativeproducts,customersareabletoplaceanorderandpayonline.
AnumberofbooksaboutShenzhenwerelaunchedattheexpo,includingthefirstfiveinstallmentsoftheOurShenzhenseriespublishedbyShenzhenPressGroup.TheseriesdealswithShenzhen鈥檚history,cultureandgeographysincethebeginningofreformandopeningup.AHistoryofShenzhen,publishedbylocalHaitianPublishingHouse,whichchroniclesthe7,000-yearhistoryofthearea,wasalsoreleasedattheexpo.
CopyeditedbyRebecaToledo
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