A record number of exhibitors are attending the world's biggest annual book fair in Frankfurt, Germany. Chinese publishers at the Fair say they will work hard to promote Chinese books and culture.
There are 6,700 firms from 110 countries and regions taking part in the five-day show. They have brought more than 100-thousand kinds of books, ranging from literature to science and paperbacks to plastic books for babies.
The Chinese section at the fair is attracting a great deal of attention from foreign exhibitors and visitors. An entourage of over 200 Chinese publishers are attending. They've brought with them two thousand publications, both bilingual and in English.
On the first day of the show on Wednesday, the Chinese publishers signed 186 export copyright contracts and 254 import copyright contracts.
Qi Pingjing, Vice President of International Publishing Group of China, said, "Today is the first day and things are going well. So far, my company has signed 71 cooperation agreements, not including undecided agreements and contracts signed by our other two publishing groups. I don't think we'll have a problem reaching more than a hundred contracts. Our main goal here is to sign export copyright contracts with foreign publishers."
Chinese publishers hope they can boost their presence on the international book market by attending such high-profile fairs. They have planned a series of promotional activities during the event aimed at showcasing what the country has achieved in publishing.
The Frankfurt International Book Fair is the largest book exposition in the world, accounting for three quarters of global copyright trading.
(CCTV.com October 21, 2005)
