Ecuador celebrates translated Chinese books

Huang Kunming (center), of the CPC Central Committee's Publicity Department, and Raul Vallejo (right), Ecuador's culture minister, open the book fair in Quito on Wednesday.[Photo by Amy He/China Daily]

Top Chinese and Ecuadorean cultural ambassadors said on Wednesday they hope that new Chinese books translated into Spanish will help cultivate a better understanding of Chinese culture, politics and history among Ecuador's people.

Ecuador has an important place in Spanish-language literature, presenting many notable authors, and the book exhibition - also brings noted Chinese authors, said Huang Kunming, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Spanish-language versions of titles such as The Literature of China, The Political System of China and The Encyclopedia of Chinese Culture will give readers a sense of Chinese politics, economics and culture, Huang said at the Month of the Exhibition and Sale of Chinese Books in Quito, Ecuador.

The exhibition is part of a larger international book fair at the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana.

Huang said he hopes the literary exhibition will help Ecuador's readers to experience the depth of Chinese literature, and he believes the exhibition will deepen literary cooperation between the two countries as well as overall bilateral relations.

He also said the Spanish version of President Xi Jinping's The Governance of China offers a window into how Xi manages state affairs, his philosophies and his determination to reform the country. More than 6 million copies of the book have been published worldwide, he said.

Xi was to arrive in Ecuador for a state visit on Thursday before taking part in the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru, this weekend.

Raul Vallejo, Ecuador's minister of culture and heritage and an author, said the books are an opportunity for Ecuador's people to understand thousands of years of Chinese history, adding that Xi's book presents a contemporary approach.

Contact the writer at amyhe@chinadailyusa.com