For people who are eager to get a better understanding of China, the Chinese booths at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany presented opportunities for them.
“I visit the Chinese booths at the fair every time, and plentiful of selected Chinese books never fail to help me to know better about different aspects of China,” said a reader who works in the culture industry in Belgium.
To meet the needs of visitors, the China International Publishing Group and China National Publications Import and Export Co. Ltd. have brought together over 100 publishing companies in China to attend the event, regarded as the largest of its kind, this year.
More than 1,000 different kinds of publications were exhibited on the shelves of the Chinese booths, covering topics of politics, economics, culture, history, technology and the Chinese language, for adults and children as well.
Rosenmarie Stefan, whose curiosity about China has been built up since she took a few courses about China in a community school, is looking for something about China that would be different from the reports of the local press.
The local media’s coverage of China is far from enough for people to know a big country, she said.
As a consultant in Frankfurt, Dirk Schneider has been cooperating with Chinese companies for over 20 years, and he prefers books about Chinese politics and economics. “I am keen to know more about the new Silk Road and would like to find some publications about it.”
Ralf Glitza, who is teaching philosophy and education at Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, said he hopes to find books about Chinese political philosophy and education. “I want to deepen my understanding about the possibility of China for now and in the future.”
An increasing number of Chinese books have been published abroad in the past few years, said Ren Lei, chief representative of the German representative office of China National Publications Import and Export (Group) Co. Ltd.
Books about children’s education, novels authored by well-known Chinese writers, Chinese philosophy and Chinese medicines are especially popular among readers in Europe, according to Ren.
The Frankfurt Book Fair, held Oct. 18-23, involved more than 4,000 publishing companies from 95 countries and regions.