The China International Publishing Group (CIPG) was a crowd puller on the opening day of the three-day South African Book Fair in Johannesburg on Friday.

China's leading publishing group CIPG is exhibiting over 250 titles of books and postcards from seven of its publishing houses.

South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the Chinese stand and wrote best wishes for Chinese in the country.

Ramaphosa was also given some books written by the Chinese President. Some of the books were about the Chinese civilization and how China became the second biggest economy in the world.

Zhen Wen, counsellor of cultural affairs at the Chinese Embassy in South Africa told Xinhua that it is important for Africans and Chinese to learn about each other's culture and history to strengthen their relations.

"We always support cultural exchange with our African friends. There have been various changes in China in the last decades and this exhibition shows our achievements with our African friends," he said.

Vusi Dlamini from Umtapo Publishers booked Chinese President Xi Jinping's book, "Up and Out of Poverty," saying "this book talks about the dream we share as South Africans. It talks about how we can eradicate poverty and become economically viable."

Dlamini told Xinhua that last year he also visited China and bought Xi's book, "The Governance of China". Dlamini wants South Africa and other African countries to follow the Chinese example targeting especially rural areas for development and governance.

"I want to have some historical books about the former (South African) President Nelson Mandela and the liberation to be translated to Mandarin and sold in China. I am looking for partners from China for this project," said Trevor Mokeyane from another South African publisher.

CIPG is taking part in the South African Book Fair for the second time. They exhibited books covering a wide range of topics like politics, economy, culture, art, history, travel, Chinese teaching and children's books.