One hundred English-language books about China and Chinese
history are being published overseas by Shanghai this year as part
of the city's cultural exports.
Initiated in 1999, the "Culture China" series features a set of
Chinese literary, historical and cultural works translated into
English to give foreigners a brief insight into China and its
5,000-year history.
More than 60 books in the series are now available in Western
bookshops and at online retailers.
Five of the books are being published in collaboration with
Shanghai Daily. "Culture," "The New Expatriates" and
"Lifestyles" - collections of feature articles from the
Shanghai Daily in recent years - were published by Better
Link Press last October and are available at major bookstores in
the city.
By the end of this year, another two books - one featuring
Shanghai Daily's weekly column "Buzzword" and another a
collection of the newspaper's feature articles on Shanghai's
historic houses - will hit the bookshelves.
City officials said that they were planning to hold a series of
major promotions for the books in the United States this November
and December.
The books are expected to be ordered for the libraries of 300
American universities.
"Based on the book series, we have developed dozens of overseas
sales points," said Sun Yong, director of the Shanghai Press and
Publication Bureau.
"We are confident about gradually publishing Chinese culture in
overseas markets in mainstream languages," he added.
Of the 100 books," Masterworks of Contemporary Chinese Art" has
been a best seller with sales of nearly 20,000 copies since it was
published in 2000.
Books on other topics - about life in Shanghai, a reader on
China and other works about ancient Chinese cultural relics - also
sold several thousand copies and in same cases needed extra
supplies.
But most of the books will only sell a few hundred copies, the
bureau said.
Cultural service industries in Shanghai, including press and
publication, TV and film, Internet and other cultural entertainment
sectors, generated an annual output of 108.12 billion yuan
(US$14.37 billion) last year. The figure is about 15 percent higher
than that of 2005.
Yet the city is still suffering a huge cultural trade deficit.
The number of imported cultural products is about 1.8 times that of
the exports, the city government reported.
(Shanghai Daily September 13, 2007)