Book lovers and experts unite for Cross-Strait Book Fair

By Tong Hao (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-10-22 13:58

The 5th Cross-Strait Book Fair will be held in Xiamen, Fujian province from Oct 30 to Nov 1 to strengthen cultural communication between the mainland and Taiwan. More than 7,000 experts from the publishing industry will attend along with famous writers, who will be on hand to sign copies of their books.

The book fair includes exhibitions, book sales, forums and signing ceremonies of cooperation projects and will take place at the Xiamen International Exhibition Center. The exhibition area of 26,400 sq m will have 1,320 booths, a 20 percent increase over the previous fair held in the city.

About 400 mainland publishing firms will bring 375,000 books from 150,000 categories to the fair while 210 publishing firms from Taiwan will showcase 90,000 books from 30,000 categories. The total value of the books is estimated to be 25 million yuan, covering subjects including fiction, history, law, medicine and tourism.

For the first time magazines from both sides of the strait will be exhibited at the fair, with Taiwan set to display nearly 1,000 magazines by 200 publishers. Fujian will also organize magazines in the province to attend the fair.

The Cross-Strait Book Fair has been held annually since 2005, with Xiamen and Taiwan taking turns as the host city each year.