Springer and ECPH to work on new encyclopedias

At the 75th Frankfurt Book Fair last month, the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House and the Springer Nature Group made a collaborative achievement announcement and signed a new agreement.

The compilation of the Encyclopedia of China involved years of efforts by tens of thousands of experts and scholars from a range of disciplines across the country. It has since become a comprehensive project, transitioning from a purely domestic publication to aligning with international standards in print and digital formats, and from a Chinese-only version to exploring foreign-language editions.

Among these developments, the Chinese Encyclopedia (Third Edition) — Mining and Metallurgical Engineering is the first English-language collaboration with Springer Nature.

It provides a comprehensive overview of both fundamental knowledge and the latest research in the fields of mining and metallurgical science and technology and was edited by Xu Kuangdi, former president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The book involved around 800 experts in its compilation and review.

After six years, the English edition has been officially released on the Springer Link platform and has already been downloaded and used by readers from countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The publication of the English print edition is also progressing steadily.

During the event, the two parties also held a signing ceremony for collaboration on the English edition of Chinese Encyclopedia (Third Edition) — Psychology, marking a new phase in the international development of Chinese encyclopedias.

Jiang Lijun, deputy chief editor of ECPH, said that she believes that encyclopedias and reference works are the foundation of discourse and narrative, facilitating communication, cultural preservation, academic progress, and cross-cultural exchange. The Encyclopedia of China is a repository of knowledge and a window for sharing China's knowledge with the world.

Niels Peter Thomas, managing director of books and president of Greater China at Springer Nature, said that the launch of the mining and metallurgy book is evidence of the effective collaboration between the parties. The English edition of the Chinese Encyclopedia (Third Edition) — Psychology marks their first foray into the field of social sciences, he said, adding that he hopes future collaborations will expand into other research areas, including science, technology, humanities, and economics.