Ladies and gentlemen, Dear friends,

With joint efforts and great cooperation of Chinese and foreign publishers, China International Book Online Expo is kicked off now. I, on behalf of the organizing committee of the expo, would like to express my gratitude to Minister Zhao Qizheng and leaders of the Press and Publication Administration for your help and support to this online book fair. I would also like to say thank you to friends domestic and overseas in book publishing industry and friends of press corps for your great concerns and substantial support to the event.

The development of information technology and Internet is bringing about great changes to the world nowadays in economic and social development. It has been shared in common in the publishing industry throughout the world today that information technology should be applied more widely so that book producing and selling may be digitalized and more business may be conducted through the Internet. Supported by the application of IT tool, the market for book industry may get bigger and bigger, which will obviously contribute to a prosperous cultural development worldwide. Following the development trend of globalization and informatization of the world’s publishing industry, China International Publishing Group has spared no effort in promoting China’s publishing undertakings, strengthening cooperation with foreign publishers in different countries, thus promoting international cultural exchanges and development.

As the leading foreign languages publishing house and bookseller in China, China International Publishing Group (CIPG) produces more than 1,000 titles of book in about 20 languages and 19 foreign-language periodicals and other publications each year. China International Book Trading Corporation, one of the subsidiaries of the group, handles distribution to 182 countries and regions. The website www.ccgp-fushun.com /www.China.com.cn, which is also run by the group, is the leading media website in China, which provides news and basic information about China to the world in nine languages and 10 editions. It also publishes 27 online periodicals in Chinese and foreign languages.

In the past 50-odd years, China International Publishing Group has made unremitting efforts in promoting international exchange between Chinese and foreign peoples. What needs special mentioning is its contribution to helping foreign people know China better through book and periodical producing. The recent decade sees foreign people being eager to know more about China with the country’s continuous progress in reform and opening up, as well as its rapid economic and social development. We will continue to improve our work so as to provide the world with a real picture about modern China by producing quality books, periodicals and online news. By so doing, we can also help introduce what is happening in the world to our Chinese readers, thus building a bridge to link China with the world economically and culturally.

Fully supported by the State Council Information Office, the Press and Publication Administration, and domestic and overseas publishing houses, China International Book Online Expo is now launched. To integrate conventional marketing mode with the modern one based on Internet technology, the online book fair provides a large space where book publishers and booksellers worldwide may exchange products and ideas freely and conveniently. The fact that a great number of booksellers and publishers participate in the fair shows that it is a genuine international cultural event.

By now over 823 Chinese and foreign publishers and distributors have participated in the book fair, among which are 374 domestic businesses and 449 overseas ones. The online book fair has so far provided about 2 million pieces of information including 1.2 million about the Chinese book publishing and nearly 1 million about foreign businesses. The online books available have come to 120,000 titles.

Large domestic publishing houses include People’s Publishing House, Commercial Press, Beijing Publishing House (Group), Shanghai Century Publishing Group, Hong Kong’s Sino United Publishing (Holdings) Limited, Chung Hwa Book Company, Hong Kong, Joint Publishing Company, Hong Kong, and San Lian Bookstore. Overseas businesses include Springer, Germany; Macmillan Co., UK; McGraw-Hill Co., USA; and China Books and Periodicals Inc., USA. We believe that with joint efforts of domestic and overseas publishers and distributors the online expo will be a great success thus making contribution to Chinese-foreign cultural exchange and international cooperation.

Dear friends, it is our first try to organize an online international book fair in such a large scale. We will do our best to provide good services. For that purpose, I, on behalf of the organizing committee, invite your opinions and suggestions, which we believe are extremely valuable for us to improve products’ quality and management efficiency. 

Now, China International Book Online Expo begins.

Cai Mingzhao, chairman of the Organizing Committee of China International Book Online Expo, vice minister of the State Council Information Office, and president of China International Publishing Group

(China.org.cn August 8, 2003)