Chinese books draw attention in Frankfurt

FRANKFURT — For people eager to have a better understanding of China, Chinese booths at the Frankfurt Book Fair 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 know better about different aspects of China," Charlottes, who works in the culture industry in Belgium, told Xinhua News Agency.

In order to meet the needs of visitors like Charlottes, the China International Publishing Group and China National Publications Import and Export Corporation have brought together more than 100 publishing companies from China to attend the event, regarded as the largest of its kind, this year.

More than 1,000 different kinds of publications were displayed on the shelves of the Chinese booths, covering 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 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," he said.

Ralf Glitza, who teaches 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," he said.

An increasing number of Chinese books has been published abroad in the past few years, said Ren Lei, chief representative of the China National Publications Import and Export Corporation's German representative office.

The Frankfurt Book Fair, which ended on Sunday, was attended by more than 4,000 publishing companies.

Xinhua