Despite being relatively new to the international book market, Chinese publishers are trying hard to sell their titles to overseas readers. They have made remarkable progress since the China Book International project was launched a decade ago.
"We've developed overseas fans for Chinese works as books by Nobel laureate Mo Yan, Hans Christian Andersen award-winning Cao Wenxuan and sci-fi author Liu Cixin are widely read," Cui Yuying, deputy director of the State Council Information Office, said at a conference of the CBI project in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, earlier this month.
Readers outside China have seen a flood of Chinese works since last year, instead of the formerly scattered appearance of books on qigong (meditative exercises), cuisine and Confucius.
The project was jointly launched by the State Council Information Office and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television in 2006.
It was a first-of-its-kind attempt of "crossing the river by feeling the stones" to push the country's publishers to compete and cooperate globally, says Cui.
"Then, we were unsure of where to go and how to go, but we knew we were going to offer opportunities to the world to read and understand China better," she says.
The project sponsors translation and promotion fees for Chinese publishers and their foreign partners to render and publish Chinese titles overseas.
Its 38 members, including publishing groups, have sold the copyright of 4,375 book titles to more than 500 publishers from 70 countries over the past decade, almost quadrupling the 2007 figure of 1,132 titles, says Cui.
The initiators of the project have worked closely with 35 top publishing experts from foreign agencies and publishing houses.
Speaking of the progress the project has made, Cui says the change is not only in the numbers. She says Chinese publishers are now making bigger strides in the global market, and she sees more confidence at every level.
Li Yan, a vice-general manager of China Publishing Group, says the group sees internationalization as one of its key strategies. It has built a team of 50 professionals from scratch for international trade and cooperation.
"Formerly, we waited for foreign publishers to select what they would like to buy from us. Now we take the initiative and plan with them and for them," Li says, adding that her group focuses on Chinese development, literature, arts and children's books.
Li Xueqian, the president of the China Children's Press and Publishing Group, says taking Chinese writers to international book fairs and working with world-renowned illustrators are key factors that helped Cao to win the Hans Christian Andersen Award.
