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Book fair to open, promote culture
By Chen Qide (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-04 14:19

SHANGHAI-- The city will host the 2008 Book Fair at Shanghai mart on August 13 to echo its efforts in becoming a cultural metropolis.

“The fair with ‘I love reading, I love life’ as its slogan, aims to create a favorable reading atmosphere,” said fair spokeswoman Zhou Siqin.

More than 600 exhibitors will display more than 100,000 kinds of books in the 21,800-square-meter area, including 60,000 new books.

Many celebrities, including diplomats, novelists, scholars and artists, will visit the fair to add color to the event, Zhou said.

“Foreign language books will be highlighted at this year’s fair,” she said.

More than 6,900 volumes of foreign language books in 2,900 varieties from overseas publishing houses will be showcased to meet readers’ needs, said Ding Xiaoling, an event director.

Some best sellers in Europe and the United States will be exhibited at the fair, she said.

Ding said the fair will open a copy right trade hall for the world’s most famous publishers, including Oxford and Cambridge, to hold talks on copy right trade with their Chinese counterparts.