Life> Reading

New chapters of international understanding

By Yang Guang (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-27 08:57

HEFEI,Anhui— The China Book International (CBI) program has subsidized the publication of 1,910 books aboutChinain 26 languages over the past four years, its office director Wu Wei says.

The monumental task has involved 246 publishers from 46 countries, Wu told CBI's annual working meeting on March 25.

The State Council Information Office, and the General Administration of Press and Publication, started the CBI program in 2006 to help the outside world better understandChina's realities. The project fits well into the domestic publishing industry's ongoing "go global" campaign.

A namesake English-language magazine and a multilingual website, chinabookinternational.cn, were set up in 2007 to provide information for member publishers, whose numbers have grown from 20 to 34.

The program has spent about 70 million yuan ($10.26 million) to promote Chinese book exports, copyright trades, cooperative publishing and direct publishing abroad.

The campaign has also encouraged foreign authors to pen books aboutChina, with the most prominent result being John Naisbitt'sChina's Megatrends: The 8 Pillars of a New Society.

Another "Translation and Publication of Chinese Cultural Works" project was initiated at last year's meeting. It not only provides enough financial assistance to fund translation work but also offers cash for publication and promotion expenses, with preference given to book series.

By the end of 2009, 10 series had been admitted to the project, which Wu describes as a "fortified version" of the CBI program.