Building China into a socialist country with strong cultural influences is a core principle adopted during the Sixth Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

In order to achieve this goal, we must understand how best to enhance China's soft power and introduce the Chinese culture to the rest of the world.

Take the book publishing industry as an example. China's political achievement and ideals are of little interest to foreign readers. Publishers should keep an eye on the market and consider readers' interests. Otherwise, books published abroad are little more than self entertainment that defeats the purpose.

Besides content, presentation also needs attention. Some books on Chinese culture, such as Chinese medicine, Chinese cuisine and Chinese kung fu are often interspersed with either ugly pictures or obscure language, making the subject difficult for readers to understand.

Publishers in Japan and South Korea use pictures or comic books that display the content vividly and simply, leaving people with deep impressions. By comparison, China has a lot of work to do to find new ways in packaging its media products, using pictures, comics and other techniques to effectively showcase the charm of Chinese culture.

For translated works, meaning is often lost in literal translations that do not account for context. Some such translations confuse even non-native English speakers like me.

To improve the quality of translated works and make them appeal to foreign readers, publishers should explore new resources and encourage out-of-the-box thinking. For example, we can employ foreigners to either have them translate Chinese literature into their native languages or encourage them to write original texts about China and Chinese culture.

Top talents are essential in the course of publishers reaching abroad. However, the talent pool in China's publishing industry is rather subpar. Producers are laymen to marketing, and distributors are amateurs in industry business dealings. The lack of multidimensional talents with skills in marketing, producing and management is an urgent problem for China's international publishing industry.

Chinese culture deserves a foothold on the global stage, and its promoters must be disciplined and understand that, instead of haphazard competitions, they should establish mutually beneficial working relationships. Corporation and experience-sharing are the keys to helping China to enhance its soft power worldwide.

The author is President of China International Publishing Group (CIPG).

(This article was first published in Chinese and translated by Guo Jiali.)

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.