Books on China's traditional culture and modern academia popular overseas

Children and parents reading books at the booth of the China Publishing Group on Aug 24. [Photo by Chen Yingqun/chinadaily.com.cn]

Books about China's traditional culture and modern academia are the most popular Chinese books overseas, says a publishing industry veteran.

Li Yan, vice president of the China Publishing and Media Holdings, Ltd, a subsidiary of the China Publishing Group, says that in the past few years, two kinds of Chinese books are most in demand overseas. The first kind is those that tell about traditional Chinese culture in a modern way, which could help expats understand China's history and tradition. Another is about modern academic results, which tells about China's latest academic achievements.

In order to meet this demand, China Publishing Group has started cooperating with more than ten publishing houses of prestigious overseas universities, such as Cambridge University Press and New York University Press.

"This will be a long-term project of communicating China's most famous academic works and literature," he says.

Moreover, the company has now gathered together more than 100 translators and sinologists overseas.

"Translation is the most important thing for communicating China's story to the world, so we have made many measures to stay in touch with these translators and sinologists."

The 23rd Beijing International Book Fair opened on Aug 24 and will last till Aug 28. It has attracted 2,407 exhibitors from 86 countries and regions, who will display more than 300,000 exhibits.

China Publishing Group is one of the biggest publishing groups in China, and published more than 15,000 kinds of books and 57 kinds of newspapers and magazines, and its revenue exceeded 10 billion yuan in 2015.