It sold 4.5 million copies globally in just half a year and has become popular with foreign leaders, diplomats and scholars. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg placed an English copy on his workstation desk and purchased more for his colleagues to read.
On Thursday morning at New York City's Javits Center, publishers, diplomats, businessmen and journalists from China and the United States gathered at the BookExpo America (BEA) 2015 to review the past success of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, and promote to Americans the book that collectes the Chinese president's most major works in nearly two years.
Ever since its international debut at the Frankfurt book fair on Oct. 8, 2014, the book has been deemed as a very well established document, and "it's a great honor to be a part of and associated with the discussion of this important book," said Steve Rosato, BEA 2015's event director, while addressing an hour-long symposium dedicated to the book.
The event, held inside the China Pavilion designated to this year's BEA Global Market Forum Guest of Honor country, attracted some 100 participants including Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the United States and Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation long known as a "China expert" in the Western world.
In a rare display of strong advocacy, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger sent in his second congratulatory message in just two days on the book's entry into the American book market and thanked organizers for making the book available to the public.
The book is "an eloquent, thoughtful window into a leader, a country, and a millennia-old civilization," the 92-year-old veteran diplomat and renowned strategist commented.
While proposing a "vast transformation of China" domestically, President Xi also offers a vision on foreign policy, particularly on China's relationship with the United States, which is "laying the basis for a new historical epoch," according to the message read out at the symposium.
In his previous message congratulating on the opening of the BEA 2015 as well as China's guest of honor status, Kissinger hailed the expo's introduction of Xi's book to American audience as a "significant" move to deepen mutual understanding and promote bilateral ties.
"The book shows you President Xi's political philosophy, telling you what he really thinks and what he is going to do. Read it and you know what's the future of China," said Robert Kuhn. "You feel like the president is really talking to you about China, like a friend."
The book also sends a signal to the world that China wants to be "more outgoing, more communicative and more interactive" as the country becomes increasingly important economically and geopolitically in today's world, the 71-year-old expert, who has visited China several times, told Xinhua.
A "very strong benefit" for Americans who read this book is that "you really understand what is happening in China" and "understand issues related to China," even though you may disagree with what China is doing, he added.
According to the latest figures, Xi's book has sold 4.5 million copies worldwide, with an overseas circulation of some 400,000, a record for any Chinese leader's publications in nearly four decades.
Michael Zakkour, a corporate and business strategist commuting between China and the United States said this book explains in detail what the Chinese dream means to the world.
"I think it is going to have a big impact on the way people and leaders in America think about China," said the New Yorker who also has a home in Shanghai. "For anybody who has an interest in building bridges between China and America, this is the book to read."
William C. Jones, bureau chief of the China Desk of Executive Intelligence Review, a Leesburg, Virginia-based weekly news magazine, was among four lucky participants of the symposium to have received a hardcover copy of Xi's book from its publisher as a gift.
"This is my third copy already," Jones told Xinhua. "I have read and reviewed the book. Although the book has been out for long, six months or so, it's not so well known by many Americans."
"I think more people should know about it because there are so much confusion and so much distortion about China in the United States," he said.
And that's a point Mark Hazelbaker, a resident of Madison, Wisconsin some 1,600 km away from the BEA venue, would heartily applaud.
"If you think one-seventh of the world's people matter, read this book." Hazelbaker left this comment on an amazon.com webpage selling the electronic version of Xi's book.
The 57-year-old veteran attorney purchased an English copy of the book in a Shanghai bookstore during his March visit to China, and found its content really amazing. "The president has a vision and a resolution about how he is going to achieve it. That is just absolutely earthshaking in terms of what it's gonna be for China and for the rest of the world."
Having read through the 500-page book, Hazelbaker said he felt "the Chinese dream is the dream of every human being," and found the Chinese leader "incredibly interesting" with a good sense of humor.
"And above all he is a decent man who is trying to bring decent living standards to his people. That's what the world needs," he added.
