On December 5, the Shanghai Bureau of Press and Publication announced the names of twenty books that had won this year's award for Most Beautiful Book in China, all of which will go on to take part in the Most Beautiful Book in the World award in Leipzig, Germany next year.

Zhu Junbo, the bureau's deputy director-general, was quoted by Xinhua News Agency on December 6 as saying that the awards helped to stimulate book design in China.

Uta Schneider, president of Germany's Book Art Foundation, one of the organizers of the international prize, said book design not only referred to cover art but to the overall aesthetic of a publication.

More than 600 books had been nominated for the China award by publishing companies and individuals, and the panel of judges not only included a German alongside mainland experts as in previous years, but also one from each Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.

Of the Chinese prize's winners this year, 20 percent were hardcover editions, down from 50 percent last year.

Among the winners were:

Splendid Articles –Traditional Chinese Embroidery Samples published by Shanghai Calligraphy & Painting House

Grand Art View published by Shanghai Calligraphy & Painting House

Shanghai Fashion published by Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House

Tian Chong published by Shanghai People's Publishing House

Cold Nights written by Ba Jin and published by Shanghai Wenyi

Chinese Folk-custom & Culture Series published by Shanghai Classics Publishing House

Last year, a Chinese book about the famous Peking Opera actor Mei Lanfang won the only gold prize at the international awards.

In March this year, a series of books designed by He Jun and published by China Friendship Press won an international gold, along with a book designed by Wang Xu and published by Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House to accompany Antony Gormley's Asian Field exhibition in Guangdong last year.

The Shanghai Bureau of Press and Publication has organized the Most Beautiful Book in China award since 2003 in order to select books for the following year's Most Beautiful Book in the World competition, held in Leipzig by the Book Art Foundation, Germany's state library and Leipzig government.

The international award is an important part of the Leipzig Book Exhibition, held annually each spring since 1991.

(China.org.cn by Zhou Jing, December 12, 2005)