China International Online Book Fair Launched -- china.org.cn

The China International Book Online Expo, the first of its kind in China, raised its curtain in Beijing on August 8, 2003. The online book fair will last to early October and become a permanent platform for bookselling and copyright trading.

Zhao Qizheng, minister of the State Council Information Office attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. “The online expo provides for domestic and overseas publishers and distributors an e-business platform, on which they may conduct online copyright trading, books selling and promoting, as well as business image building. This significant event will surely contribute to cultural exchange and international cooperation between Chinese and foreign businesses,” he said.

Liu Binjie, deputy director of the State Press and Publication Administration, gave his congratulations on the opening of the online book fair, calling it a revolution of the traditional mode of book marketing.

Cai Mingzhao, chairman of the Organizing Committee of China International Book Online Expo, vice minister of the State Council Information Office and President of China International Publishing Group, also addressed the opening ceremony. According to him, 823 Chinese and foreign publishers and distributors have participated in the book fair, among which are 374 domestic businesses and 449 overseas ones.

The online book fair has so far provided about 2 million pieces of information including 1.2 million about the Chinese book publishing and nearly 1 million about foreign businesses. The online books available have come to 120,000 titles, he said.

“We believe that with joint efforts of domestic and overseas publishers and distributors the online expo will be a great success thus making contribution to Chinese-foreign cultural exchange and international cooperation,” Cai said.

The online book fair was sponsored by China International Publishing Group (CIPG), the leading foreign languages publishing house and bookseller in China. CIPG produces more than 1,000 titles of book in about 20 languages and 19 foreign-language periodicals and other publications each year. China International Book Trading Corporation, one of the subsidiaries of the group, handles distribution to 182 countries and regions. The website www.China.org.cn/www.China.com.cn, which is also run by the group, is the leading media website in China, which provides news and basic information about China to the world in nine languages and 10 editions. It also publishes 27 online periodicals in Chinese and foreign languages.

Appendixes:

Speech at the Opening Ceremony of China International Book Online Expo

Zhao Qizheng, minister of the State Council Information Office

Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to extend warm congratulations to you on the commencement of the China International Book Online Expo on behalf of the State Council Information Office. This is indeed a pioneering undertaking in China. I would also like to take this opportunity to send my greetings and respect to domestic and overseas publishers and online visitors, who are participating in or visiting the online expo.

China produces over 150,000 titles of book each year. But the distribution channels through which we sell our products are backward and outdated. Starting from this moment, we are creating a new way featuring online book sales, and I hope the online book fair will gradually develop into an online bookstore. It is quite possible that in five or ten years people will say that there are two famous online bookstores in the world -- Amazon and China International Online Bookstore. Now that the ambitious project is kicked off, we are preparing to take challenges and overcome difficulties ahead. Apparently, more constructions and improvement are needed in the future to have this online bookstore well established, which include advanced software system, searching system, translation system, payment system and book distribution and supply system.

"Where there is a will, there is a way." I believe we can succeed.

Speech at the Opening Ceremony of China International Book Online Expo

Liu Binjie, deputy director of the State Press and Publication Administration

Dear Minister Zhao, Dear Vice Minister Cai, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m glad today to be here to attend the opening ceremony of China International Book Online Expo. This is the first time I attend a book fair. I would like to extend congratulations to you on the commencement of the online expo on behalf of the State Press and Publication Administration.

Minister Zhao, I quite agree with you on what you said about China’s publishing industry. China is a country where printing and paper-making were invented, and it is also a country which homes to a developed book publishing industry, a basic industry in China. What we feel regret, however, is the fact that the promotion and sales measures that we are taking are extremely backward. Some distribution measures we apply now are those used 50 years ago, which apparently cannot meet the demand of market economy. In recent years, we are eager to learn ways and experiences of the developed countries in book marketing and trading. We have organized a number of large-scale book expos and book fairs. As everybody knows, there are over 100 book fairs worldwide each year, and Beijing has joined in to hold book fair too. The book fairs held in Beijing have gained fame among overseas publishers, which is also functioning as a bridge to link Chinese and foreign cultures.

Minister Zhao just asked me a question about the status quo of China’s book export. The annual turnover of China’s book export stands at 19 million yuan (US$2.3 million), far behind those developed international book markets. Therefore, it is an urgent task for us to catch up with them.

China has a marvelous culture. We have a legion of publishing professionals and excellent cultural and technological products. The problem is that we are poor in using and manipulating market mechanism. What you are doing now is just wonderful to hold online book fair, which is conducting book fair by taking advantage of modern science and technology in information exchange and online trading. Minster Zhao just said that the book fair will become a permanent online international bookstore. I fully appreciate this idea. It is expected that the online bookstore will function as a window showing splendid culture of China to the world while promoting book trading with foreign publishers. Actually, the State Press and Publication Administration is encouraging the development of export-oriented cultural activities. So I can promise our support to your efforts in developing the online book trade and cultural exchanges.

I wish the China International Book Online Expo a great success.

Thank you.

Speech at the Opening Ceremony of China International Book Online Expo

Cai Mingzhao, vice minister of the State Council Information Office

Ladies and gentlemen, Dear friends,

With joint efforts and great cooperation of Chinese and foreign publishers, China International Book Online Expo is kicked off now. I, on behalf of the organizing committee of the expo, would like to express my gratitude to Minister Zhao Qizheng and leaders of the Press and Publication Administration for your help and support to this online book fair. I would also like to say thank you to friends domestic and overseas in book publishing industry and friends of press corps for your great concerns and substantial support to the event.

The development of information technology and Internet is bringing about great changes to the world nowadays in economic and social development. It has been shared in common in the publishing industry throughout the world today that information technology should be applied more widely so that book producing and selling may be digitalized and more business may be conducted through the Internet. Supported by the application of IT tool, the market for book industry may get bigger and bigger, which will obviously contribute to a prosperous cultural development worldwide. Following the development trend of globalization and informatization of the world’s publishing industry, China International Publishing Group has spared no effort in promoting China’s publishing undertakings, strengthening cooperation with foreign publishers in different countries, thus promoting international cultural exchanges and development.

As the leading foreign languages publishing house and bookseller in China, China International Publishing Group (CIPG) produces more than 1,000 titles of book in about 20 languages and 19 foreign-language periodicals and other publications each year. China International Book Trading Corporation, one of the subsidiaries of the group, handles distribution to 182 countries and regions. The website www.china.org.cn /www.China.com.cn, which is also run by the group, is the leading media website in China, which provides news and basic information about China to the world in nine languages and 10 editions. It also publishes 27 online periodicals in Chinese and foreign languages.

Fully supported by the State Council Information Office, the Press and Publication Administration, and domestic and overseas publishing houses, China International Book Online Expo is now launched. To integrate conventional marketing mode with the modern one based on Internet technology, the online book fair provides a large space where book publishers and booksellers worldwide may exchange products and ideas freely and conveniently. The fact that a great number of booksellers and publishers participate in the fair shows that it is a genuine international cultural event.

By now over 823 Chinese and foreign publishers and distributors have participated in the book fair, among which are 374 domestic businesses and 449 overseas ones. The online book fair has so far provided about 2 million pieces of information including 1.2 million about the Chinese book publishing and nearly 1 million about foreign businesses. The online books available have come to 120,000 titles.

Large domestic publishing houses include People’s Publishing House, Commercial Press, Beijing Publishing House (Group), Shanghai Century Publishing Group, Hong Kong’s Sino United Publishing (Holdings) Limited, Chung Hwa Book Company, Hong Kong, Joint Publishing Company, Hong Kong, and San Lian Bookstore. Overseas businesses include Springer, Germany; Macmillan Co., UK; McGraw-Hill Co., USA; and China Books and Periodicals Inc., USA. We believe that with joint efforts of domestic and overseas publishers and distributors the online expo will be a great success thus making contribution to Chinese-foreign cultural exchange and international cooperation.

Dear friends, it is our first try to organize an online international book fair in such a large scale. We will do our best to provide good services. For that purpose, I, on behalf of the organizing committee, invite your opinions and suggestions, which we believe are extremely valuable for us to improve products’ quality and management efficiency.

Now, China International Book Online Expo begins.

(China.org.cn August 8, 2003)