Translation biggest obstacle impeding export of Chinese books

Translation is the biggest obstacle impeding the export of Chinese books, Guo Xiaoyong, vice-president of China International Publishing Group (CIPG), said Tuesday during an interview with Xinhua at the London Book Fair.

Guo, also vice-president of the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, said they brought more than 700 books to the London Book Fair this year, among which 85 percent were in foreign languages. These books are about modern Chinese society, literature, language learning, traditional Chinese medicine, children's books and dictionaries.

Guo told Xinhua that foreigners were especially interested in the development of Chinese society. "With the rise of China, Chinese culture is attracting more attention worldwide and the demand for Chinese books is increasing, " he said. "Our job is to promote Chinese culture so as to have people know Chinese society better," he said.

However, Guo said translation was always an obstacle impeding the export of Chinese books. "Last year, Chinese writer Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize, which again proved the importance of translation," he said. "But generally speaking, we lack good translators, and the pith of many good books was lost in translation," he added.

Started in 1971, the London Book Fair is the world's second largest book fair, only after the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany. The book fair this year runs from Monday to Wednesday, attracting publishers from as many as 60 countries.