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A visitor browses books and related products at the Beijing Book Fair on January 9, 2025 in Beijing. Photo: VCG

At the Beijing Book Fair that just concluded on Saturday, a new book telling the stories of forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation saw its copyright exported to ­Russia. 

As a bridge for spreading Chinese culture, Chinese books are attracting more and more overseas readers, especially as their demand for and understanding of Chinese literary works becomes increasingly diverse.

Karen Christensen, a research associate at the Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese studies and CEO of Berkshire Publishing, told the Global Times that there have been successful novels translated from Chinese to English for American readers such as books by Nobel laureate Mo Yan and Liu Cixin, author of The Three-Body Problem. 

"There should be, and could be, more books from China that will appeal to American readers, but there are challenges to be addressed. Publishing books from China for American readers has to be a cooperative process. Co-publishing is also a possibility for books of significance," Christensen noted. 

"I find that many people are interested in China and would like to know more about it. But we have to remember that the average educated American reader knows almost nothing about Chinese history or culture, so they lack the context that a reader inside China has. Fiction can cross that barrier more easily than non-fiction, if the story captures a universal human experience," she said. 

Pan Lihui, founder of French publisher Paris Editions You Feng, told the International Publishing Weekly that with the help of social media, Asian culture has become more easily accessible to the French people, with trending topics sometimes sparking a surge in the sales of related books. 

"For example, the global hit that is China's first AAA video game Black Myth: Wukonghas, in the recent past, piqued the interest of many Western readers in the Chinese classic literary work Journey to the West and books related to the Monkey King Sun Wukong," said Pan. 

Visitors explore books related to the video game Black Myth: Wukong at the Beijing Book Fair on January 10, 2025. Photo: VCG

Collaboration matters

During the 30th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) held in Beijing in June 2024, books based on traditional Chinese culture drew keen attention from overseas publishers.

The five-day fair gathered around 1,600 exhibitors from 71 countries and regions. A total of 2,100 Chinese and foreign copyright trade agreements (including intentions) were reached. Among them, there were 1,426 agreements for different types of copyright exports, 558 for introductions, and 116 for cooperative publishing intentions, according to a report by the People's Daily.

Sara Elzein, CEO of Madarek Publishing House in Saudi Arabia, told the Global Times that in recent years, she has observed a growing number of Chinese publishers establishing partnerships with foreign publishers. Her own publishing house signed agreements on collaboration with the Jiangxi People's Publishing House in June 2024. 

Elzein told the Global Times that Chinese publishing houses' "positive cooperative mind-sets" with Saudi publishers was underpinned especially by different cultural events and agendas that have been brought up by the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. 

She also noted that books related to explaining Chinese modernity have become an increasingly ­popular reading theme among Saudi readers.

At the BIBF, publishers from Russia, Japan, South Korea and France signed a copyright export agreement for the publication of the book Searching for Dunhuang Treasures around the World, whose interesting stories could help international readers learn the basics of Dunhuang studies and a brief history of Dunhuang.

French readers prefer Chinese philosophy, literary classics, and contemporary novels. Philosophy is the area of Chinese culture that French people are most interested in and knowledgeable about. Even French people who do not study Chinese or pay special attention to Asian culture are rarely unaware of ancient Chinese philosophers such as Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Confucius, and Sun Tzu, according to Pan, who was awarded the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture in 1997.

Challenges in translation

Regarding to the latest trend of importing Chinese books, Christensen noted that it is harder today to find books that will "travel" well in translation, unfortunately, in part because publishers do not have the expertise to choose and produce translated editions as well as they ought."

"When we publish text from China, it has to be put into fluid, correct, and idiomatic English by a native English speaker. This is a standard in international translation. AI will be helpful, but mostly with text that focuses on 'who,' 'what,' and 'where.' When we try to convey complex, subtle ideas and write about 'why' and 'how,' the translation process is a far more difficult endeavor," she said.

The American publisher also revealed that general-interest books translated from the Chinese receive less attention. "What I would like to discover is more books than offer a window into Chinese life, thought, history, and culture - framed in a way that makes sense to non-Chinese readers. The universal human dilemmas of life translate well." 

"Personally, I would very much like to be able to identify and publish a wider range of books about China. I see a great opportunity in children's books, narrative non-fiction, photo essays, accessible academic books, and fiction," Christensen added. 

Wu Hengcan, chairman of Han Culture Centre Malaysia, told the Xinhua New Agency that he looked forward to more cooperation with Chinese counterparts in the publishing.

The Chinese publishing industry has seen stable development recently, with books having a diverse advantage in terms of content, quality, and price, which is welcomed by the local market in Malaysia. Malaysian readers expect more high-quality Chinese books, sharing more Chinese culture, experiences, and stories, said Wu.