China visions to sparkle at London Book Fair

London (CNS) -- A Chinese delegation, as a guest of honor, will stage contributions of more than 300 events to the upcoming 2012 London Book Fair, commencing April 16 and now in its 41st year.

The series of events are categorized as publishing house forums, book copyright promotions, author and scholar exchanges, cultural and art exhibitions, and cultural and art performances, according to the Wednesday press conference given by the delegation.

Director Zhang Fuhai at the Department of Foreign Communication and Cooperation under the General Administration of Press and Publication, briefed the attendees on six features of the friendly, communicative and cooperative interactions to come: guaranteed are a big pack of activities, a large group of delegates, a wide range of themes, a rich resource of celebrities, long time windows to enjoy them all in, as well as a special first-time exhibition on outstanding translations, both from Chinese to English and vice-versa.

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.K. diplomatic relations, Chinese Ambassador to the U.K. Liu Xiaoming addressed the conference on what an opportunity it provides to present to the world's literati new ways of looking at and understanding China.

H.E. Amb. Liu also encouraged deeper cooperation between the Chinese and English publishing markets, as a driving force for mutual cultural appreciation, as well as an impetus to raise the competitiveness of Chinese publications and other cultural products in the international sphere.

In terms of sales, China is now the world's biggest domestic publication market and growing at break-neck speed, commented Director Alistair Burtenshaw of this one of the world's most influential book fairs, which is to embrace about 25,000 publication professionals from 110 countries this year.

The China Pavilion to host the whole package of Chinese activities at the London Book Fair, to cover an area of 2,019 square meters, will display about 10,000 book items in five zones, which are named gold, wood, water, fire and earth - the five Tao elements. Altogether 191 publishing units and 500 celebrities from the domestic industry will attend.