Next year China is the guest of honor at Book Expo America’s Global Market Forum and is planning a host of events for the occasion. Vice Minister Wu Shulin details his country’s goals and expectations in this interview with Publishers Weekly.
What do you think it means for China to be the guest of honor at the Global Market Forum of BookExpo America 2015?
Vice Minister Wu Shulin: Since 2005, China has served as the guest of honor at a number of major international book fairs, including those in Paris, Moscow, Seoul, Frankfurt, Thessaloniki, Cairo, London, and Istanbul, to be followed by Belgrade in 2014. And in 2015, it will host the Global Market Forum at BookExpo America.
China attaches great importance to participating in all these events as the guest of honor. First, we wish to have better cultural exchanges and cooperation with other countries by hosting various activities as the guest of honor. International book fairs are an important way for China to know the world and the world to learn about China, and they are also great occasions for cultural communication and exchanges with countries around the world. As the guest of honor, China will mainly host publishing activities, while a series of cultural activities will also be staged with books as the medium. Examples include communication with authors, art exhibitions, cultural forums, etc. By presenting such activities, we aim to showcase the rich Chinese culture and enhancing communication in the publishing industry.
Second, we wish to encourage Chinese publishers to compete more actively in the international publishing arena and promote cultural trade. As reform of the Chinese publishing industry deepens, the industry has seen rapid development and growing international exchanges and cooperation in recent years. Hosting guest of honor activities at various major international book fairs has become an important way for Chinese publishers to expand communication and cooperation with foreign peers, conduct cooperative publishing and copyright trade, and compete in the international publishing market.
China’s participation in the BEA 2015 as the guest of honor bears special meaning in that it will promote mutual understanding of the two peoples, build friendship between the two countries, boost economic and cultural exchanges, and expand communication and cooperation between publishers on both sides.
What does China expect to achieve at the forum? Do you expect more Chinese books to enter the American market? Will there be more copyright sales?
We hope and we believe that by being the guest of honor, we will achieve the following goals:
First, more Chinese books will enter the American market, more cooperation projects will be launched between Chinese and American publishers, more Chinese copyrights will be transferred to American publishers, and books will be translated and published in the U.S. for American readers to read and relish.
Second, more American readers will grow fond of Chinese books, read them, know more of the economic, political, social, and cultural development of contemporary China, get a deeper understanding of the thoughts and lifestyle of Chinese people today, and gain better knowledge about the long history and splendid culture and literature of China. Thus, there will be more opportunities for exchanges of views and ideas, better mutual understanding, and cemented friendship between the two peoples.
Third, publishing professionals from China and the U.S. can learn from each other, and in particular, Chinese publishers can learn from their U.S. counterparts. The U.S. publishing industry takes the lead in the world in many aspects, such as industrialized publishing development, market-oriented operation, scientific management, the establishment of a global marketing network, digital publishing technologies, etc. The publishing industry in China lags behind in many ways, and more should be done to make continuous improvement.
What do you think of the China-U.S. partnership?
The year 2015 marks the 36th anniversary of China-U.S. diplomatic relations. The two countries should uphold the principle of mutual respect and win-win cooperation in the development of relations. Today, the world is undergoing great changes, reforms, and adjustments. Multipolarization and economic globalization deepen, science and technology leap forward, and more frequent exchanges, integration, and contention are seen between different thoughts, cultures, and ideas.
Culture knows no border, no limit of time or space. It is colorful and diverse thanks to communication and integration. Cultural communication, integration, and innovation continue throughout the entire history of mankind. There are over 200 countries and regions, more than 2,500 ethnic groups, and some 6,000 languages in the world today. Yet all peoples, regardless of ethnic origin, race, or historic and cultural background, contribute to the progress of mankind in their unique ways. The cultural communication and integration process enables us to better understand how rich and diverse our world is. More cultural exchanges, wider cultural consensus, and greater mutual trust are the aspiration shared by people around the world, and at the same time a strong driving force behind progress in human civilization, world peace, and development.
China’s participation in BEA 2015 as the guest of honor will serve as a great platform for three purposes: First, it enhances mutual understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries; second, it promotes economic, science and technology, and cultural communication between the two sides and boosts social progress; third, it expands communication between the two countries in the publishing industry. Language and books are two major inventions of mankind. They serve as essential tools for the accumulation of knowledge, wisdom, and experience. By hosting guest of honor activities, we hope to make the best use of these tools to maximize cultural communication, promote dialogue, and achieve shared progress and development in the two countries.
What do you expect to learn by participating in the Global Market Forum at BEA 2015?
Over the past 10 years, the publishing industry in China has undergone the most intensified reforms and the fastest growth in its history. However, we are highly aware that compared with the U.S. and other developed countries, China still lags quite far behind in publishing. A major problem is that the quality of publications and the benefits they bring are incommensurate to the scale of the industry and the quantity of publications it offers. The U.S. has a strong foothold in the world publishing industry. Publishing is done on a very large scale there, and publishers are conglomerated into large groups specialized in different fields. Many of the top 10 publishers in the world are from the U.S. The U.S. publishing industry boasts a mature marketing and operation mechanism, a well-established legal system, extensive hi-tech application, growth-conducive development strategies, and innovative and effective professional training policies. All these are what Chinese publishers should study and learn. BEA is a large and professional expo of books in English where a wide variety of activities are staged. At such an event, China, as the guest of honor, should focus cultural exchange and trade. When based on trade, cultural exchanges will be deeper and more sustainable. In sum, the guest of honor activities of China at this event are quite important for publishers and general people of the two countries, as well as bilateral relations.
Could you describe the activities China plans to hold at BEA 2015, either inside or outside its booths?
We are now making great efforts to draft the overall plan of activities for the event. As we have done at other international book fairs as the guest of honor, we will have publishing activities, author activities, and cultural activities. According to the agreement signed between the two sides, China and the U.S. will hold four publishing seminars jointly. Various participating Chinese publishing houses will also have their own seminars, discussions, and forums on different themes, as well as professional publishing exchanges of other kinds. We intend to invite dozens of authors to the event, hold dialogues between Chinese and American writers, book signing events, recitals, etc., to promote exchanges in literature between the two countries. We may also present several exhibitions and movie shows to boost cultural communication and cooperation.
How many publishing professionals will be at the event (including publishers, authors, distributors, booksellers, agents, etc.)?
I’m not sure how many will be there now. But based on previous experience and the importance of BEA, I believe quite a large number of Chinese professionals will be in New York for this event next year, including publishers, authors, booksellers, distributors, agents, experts, scholars, etc.
How do you select the companies for participation?
All Chinese publishing groups and publishing houses can participate. There will be no limit. All participating institutions will present their books that cater to the needs of the international market.
What is the current market trend in China? How big is the market for e-books?
Generally, the Chinese market for printed books is now developing with steady steps, while the digital publishing market is growing rapidly. In 2012, a total of 414,000 titles were published in China and almost eight billion copies were printed. Compared with 2011, the number of titles grew by 12.04% (first editions grew by 16.62% and reprints grew by 6.17%), and the number of copies printed grew by 2.85%. The total revenue from publishing, printing, and distribution registered 1,663.53 billion renminbi (RMB), up by 14.2% over the previous year.
Digital publishing has seen new highs one after another in recent years. Statistics show that in 2012, digital publishing reaped a total of RMB139.549 billion, 40.47% more than the previous year and 11.72% of the total revenue of the press and publishing industry in China. Digital publishing represents the future of the publishing industry. Chinese publishing enterprises are encouraged to communicate and cooperate with foreign peers in terms of technology, information, etc., to jointly promote digital publishing.
