TAIPEI, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The 20th Cross-Strait Book Fair opened on Tuesday in Taipei, with over 200 publishing houses and copyright agencies from both sides of the Taiwan Strait participating. This is the first edition held in Taiwan since the 14th fair was held in 2018.

The main venue in Taipei covers more than 6,000 square meters, consisting of booths of publishing houses from the mainland and Taiwan, and a copyright negotiation and new book release area.

According to the organizers, publications on display cover a broad variety, from literature to lifestyle, children's books and historical and academic books, including nearly 20,000 types of books from the mainland.

During the fair, more than 20 cross-Strait copyright trade meetings, several new book launches, and cross-Strait publishing cooperation seminars will be held. Additional exhibition and exchange venues have been set up in Taichung and Kaohsiung.

Shen Rong-yu, chairman of the Taiwan Cross-Strait Publishing Exchange Association and president of Taipei's Tianlong Bookstore, told Xinhua that books help foster exchanges and mutual understanding across the Strait, leading to deeper integration.

"I've been running the bookstore for over 20 years and imported more than 30 million books from the mainland," he said. "Due to its larger market, the mainland has a wider range of topics in publishing than Taiwan. Books on traditional Chinese medicine, sci-tech and fine arts are very popular here. Importing these books benefits local readers."

The Very Artist Publishing House in Taiwan is not only displaying art books but also exhibiting a number of paintings by mainland artists at the fair.

The publishing house's focus is on promoting artistic exchanges across the Strait while the mainland artists it has introduced into Taiwan have been well-received, said Wu Fund, the publisher's founder.

Cultural and artistic exchanges are especially important at this time, Wu said.

The book fair has seen a transaction of books worth 700 million yuan (about 98 million U.S. dollars) since it was launched in 2005. This year's fair will conclude on Oct. 21. Enditem

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