With red Chinese knots and lanterns decorating the Chinese exhibition area, it attracted large crowds. According to statistics, the Chinese delegation exported a total of 1,364 copyrights, twice as many as that of last year.

The reason for this success in Europe is being put down to the more proactive attitude now being adopted by Chinese publishing.

Becoming More Proactive

China began to participate in Frankfurt Book Fair in the1950s, but until three years ago, the Chinese exhibition stand only covered an area of 100 square meters. In the 2006 book fair, however, the large number of German media and also the director of Frankfurt Book Fair, Juergen Boos, all noticed the rapid development in China's publishing industry. Boos pointed out that, for years, there existed a serious imbalance in the book trade between Germany and China: In 2003, China imported as many as 594 copyrights from Germany and in 2005, China imported 379 copyrights from Germany while only exporting 31 to the country in the same year.

Paul Richardson is a senor advisor to Britain's China Publishing Ltd., who has been participating in the Frankfurt Book Fair since 1966. In his opinion, there were three problems in the past that prevented the Chinese delegation from achieving success. The lack of English explanation on exhibited books made it hard for foreign publishers to single out what they wanted; the Chinese exhibition stand was always waiting for business opportunities instead of interacting actively with people in other stands; and Chinese publishing houses had no cooperation with foreign publishers, so weren't sure of what was in demand by foreign markets. However, Richardson said that all the three problems were no longer evident this year. China's exhibition area was open and easily accessible and the delegation's active involvement with others was also impressive, said Richardson.

The success of China's publishing industry is inseparable from the promotion and support of the Chinese Government. It is reported that in 2005, the Program to Popularize Chinese Books Abroad was successfully launched. In 2006, more than 1,000 book titles were included in the recommended bibliography in this program. Foreign publishers that have purchased the copyrights of these books from their Chinese counterparts will receive translation fees. Moreover, the Chinese Government has also done a lot of work to set up a platform for book fairs both locally and internationally, acting as a bridge between China's publishing industry and that in other countries. At the 13th Beijing International Book Fair that concluded in September, China exported 1,096 copyrights while importing 891—a historical breakthrough.

Cooperation -- The Way to Go

This year more Chinese publishing companies became involved in cooperative efforts with their counterparts in other countries, jointly designing, publishing and distributing, so as to supply products meeting the requirement of the international market and foreign readers.

For example, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press is to cooperate with Thomson Learning—the largest education publishing company in the United States, to issue Everyday Chinese in 14 languages in 50 countries for foreigners to learn Chinese.

Shandong Publishing Group plans to publish the English version of The Road of Confucius with a British publishing institution. The former is to provide all kinds of texts and pictures while the latter is in charge of design, editing and distribution. People's Literature Publishing House from China is to cooperate with HarperCollins Publishers to publish the English version of  The Masterpieces of Chinese Contemporary Literature, with the Chinese side providing the bibliography of 50 books. Ancient Boat by Zhang Wei, Border Town by Shen Congwen and Rickshaw Boy by Lao She, appear among the first selected novels on the list. Besides, highlighting the "Shaolin Culture," Henan Publishing Group signed an agreement with the Iranian Wushu Association, which grants the Association the exclusive right to sell CDs on The Classical Set Patterns of Chinese Traditional Wushu.

According to Long Xinmin, Director of the General Administration of Press and Publication of the PRC, all these prove that China's book exports are no longer simply based on book trade and copyright exportation, but is gradually diversifying its approach.

In accordance with Yu Xiaoqun, Deputy General Manager of Liaoning Publishing Group, nowadays, depending on the export of copyright alone is unable to stimulate fundamental innovation in China's publishing industry, so the in-depth cooperation between the Chinese and foreign publishing institutions is essential.

Chinese Culture -- Readers' Drawcard

During the fair, Liaoning Publishing Group and Germany's Bertelsmann Group jointly held the first release ceremony for the German version of A Reader on China by famous Chinese writer Su Shuyang. A Bertelsmann spokesperson said that although they had only imported a small number of Chinese books, all are selling well, indicating the big market potential for Chinese books in Germany.  "As a fast-growing dynamic market, China is a focus of attention of publishers and readers around the world," said Jane Friedman, President of HarperCollins Publishers, "Since I became president of HarperCollins Publishers, 'embracing China' has become one of my missions. It's my hope that the world will have the opportunity to appreciate the great works that used to move and inspire the Chinese people."

According to an official from the Chinese delegation, the rise of China has renewed people's attitude towards China and the Chinese culture. The Chinese contemporary culture is as attractive as its traditional culture. He suggested that in order to win more overseas market share, publishers fully publish books that contain Chinese characteristics, as this is what attracts overseas readers.