Harry Potter's Chinese fans will soon be able to enjoy the young wizard's new adventure in their mother tongue. The much anticipated Chinese version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth volume of the series, will be published this October.
People's Literature is one of the country's leading publishing houses and specializes in quality fiction. It is also the authorized publisher of the Harry Potter series in China.
Wang Ruiqin, chief editor of People's Literature, said, "We received the English version at its global launch last week. The translation is already well underway. We should be finished by mid-August."
Liu Yushan, president of People's Literature, said, "We want to put the fifth volume of the Harry Potter series into bookshops in October. We are planning a first print run of half a million to 800,000 copies. Depending on the market, we may print more."
The English original of the latest Harry Potter story is also selling well in China. Beijing's major book retailers are reporting that some 5,000 copies of the book sold during the first three days after its launch. But the Chinese version of J. K. Rolling's creation is far more popular. More than 1.5 million copies of each of the first four volumes have already been sold.
(CCTV.com June 29, 2003)
