44 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 29, 2019 http://www.bjreview.comAdding a New Chapter
CULTURE
Beijing International Book Fair cements cultural exchanges
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software for learning the guqin, a zither-like sev-
en-stringed Chinese musical instrument, was on
display. It was developed by the corporation and
Chinese telecom operator China Unicom. Users
can play the instrument on a mobile terminal
with the help of 5G and augmented reality (AR)
technologies.
The booth also displayed an AR magnifying
glass. When held before an image in a book, it
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This year’s BIBF saw 2,600 publishing hous-
es from 95 countries and regions take part with
more than 300,000 titles.
The nearly 1,000 activities included an ex-
hibition on China’s publishing industry since the
founding of the PRC, and an exhibition themed
on the Olympic Winter Games 2022 to pro-
mote winter sports. China will host the games in
Beijing and Zhangjiakou in the north.79GUDPDVDQGĶOPVDUHLQWURGXFHGRYHUVHDV
they have enabled foreign audiences to better
understand China, Ahmed Mohamed Elsaid
Soliman, President of Wisdom House Cultural
Investment Co. in Egypt, said at a forum on
China’s international publishing held two days
ahead of the opening of the BIBF.
As a major outcome of the forum, a pub-
lishing cooperation mechanism was established
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in over 20 countries with the aim of promoting
cultural exchanges.
In addition to international copyright co-
operation, advanced technology also featured
prominently at the BIBF. Products supported by
5G technology were displayed at the fair for the
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At the booth of the China National
Publications Import and Export (Group) Corp.,A^
new resource to understand the rich but
complex China-U.S. relationship will be
available to readers when a book contain-
ing the thoughts of prominent personalities on
the issue hits the shelves.
As the 26th Beijing International Book
Fair (BIBF) opened in the capital on August 21,
Chinese publishing house New World Press
(NWP), an affiliate of the China International
Publishing Group (CIPG), signed a contract
with U.S. education and technology company
Cengage to publish 40 on 40: Four Decades of
Evolving Sino-U.S. Relations.
The book includes interviews with 40
prominent Chinese and U.S. politicians and
academics, such as former U.S. President Jimmy
Carter, Harvard University Professor Joseph Nye,
Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai and
Chinese political scientist Wang Jisi.
“Through the perspectives of the 40
people, readers will gain a comprehensive and
in-depth understanding of the complicated
relationships of these two powers and develop
their own thoughts on the overflow of bilat-
eral relations,” Alexander Broich, President of
Cengage Global Businesses, said.
The NWP also signed contracts with
Albanian publishing house Fan Noli and Arab
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editorial departments in the two countries,
taking the number of its overseas editorial de-
partments to 14.
CIPG, founded the same year as the People’s
Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, has published
over 80,000 titles in more than 40 languages,
which have been distributed in over 180 coun-
tries and regions over the past seven decades.
Lu Cairong, CIPG Vice President, said as the
largest international publishing group in China,
CIPG has presented China to the rest of the
world in multiple languages, using media plat-
forms including books, magazines, the Internet
and social media.
“Establishing overseas editorial depart-
ments is an effective way of promoting China-
themed books abroad,” Lu added.
As more and more books about China’s his-
tory, culture and economy, along with ChineseThe Romanian booth at the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) on August 21XINHUA