Books are the stepping stones of human progress. On May 17, on the sidelines of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC), the Seminar on Publishing for International Readers was held by China International Publishing Group (CIPG) in Beijing.
Vice President of CIPG Lu Cairong delivered a speech at the seminar. Seven senior publishers from Asia, Africa, and South America were joined by peers from publishing houses under the CIPG to discuss in detail topics concerning China which foreign readers were most interested in.
Kaushal Goyal, general manager of India’s GBD Books, KIM Seung il, president of Gyeng Ji Pressing in South Korea, Laura Prinsloo, chairperson of Indonesia National Book Committee, and Guillermo Bravo, president of Mil Gotas Press in Argentina, each gave a speech focusing on three topics: “How to strengthen cooperation with China’s publishing community”, “what do readers expect of Chinese publications”, and “how can Chinese publications respond to the requirements of international readers”.
Goyal said that knowledge about Chinese culture is very important in helping writers, philosophers, historians, and businesspeople around the world understand the country. As for India, he said Indian people are interested in knowing more about China’s reform and opening-up, the Belt and Road Initiative, and its traditional culture. Cooperation in the publications sector, in his eyes, would help the two sides find common ground and establish strong relations while at the same time maintain their own characteristics.
Laura Prinsloo briefed the attendees on the status quo of the publishing industry in Indonesia. She also expressed her hope of setting up a book alliance or organizing such activities as literature weeks with the active participation of China.
In the second part of the seminar, each publisher talked about the publishing and selling of Chinese books in their domestic markets based on their first-hand experience.
During the last part of the seminar, the international publishers were invited by their CIPG counterparts to give their opinions on some topics the group is working on. Topics proposed included “A New Interpretation of Chinese Classics: Lao Tzu’s Wisdom”, “Traditional Chinese Medicine in Cartoons”, and “10134 Kilometers through China”, etc.
In his concluding remarks, Lu Cairong pointed out that publishers from all over the world have the responsibility to promote the exchanges between different cultures. He expressed CIPG’s willingness to work hand in hand with foreign publishers to make books which both present a real China and appeal to readers on the global market.
