Publishers' longevity speaks volumes

The series, published in many languages, has 15 titles, including the award-winning The Path of China's Peaceful Development, and Yan Xiaojun's Why is China Stable: Stories from the Grassroots.

As for the future, two more series have been planned, one explaining Chinese systems, and the other a "Brief Reads" series on Chinese history and traditional cultures.

In other developments, the publishing house set up a branch in Chile in 2016, and one in France in 2017, to boost its global links.

Speaking about the publisher's global ambitions, Zhao says: "Quality, good topics, authoritative authors, and easy-to-read works are our core aims."

To promote influential authors is a way that Zhao suggests will help the publishing house. He cited the works of late authors Ji Xianlin, Fei Xiaotong and Qian Zhongshu as examples.

The publisher is very much in tune with recent trends. It is a typical example of one of the latest publishing trends of "publishing academic books for wider readership" with "simpler and smaller version of the thick books" written by authoratative scholars.

However, it also carries on with its mission of focusing on the most recent and in-depth research findings in social sciences.

For this, it is working on a 35-volume series called History of Contemporary Chinese Academic Thoughts.

The project, which began in 2008 and involves 400 experts, aims to record all the achievements in Chinese philosophy and the social sciences.

Some of the books are first-time publications in their specific area, like the one by Ma Dazheng about Chinese borders.

"I believe we are at the best time in our history," says Zhao. And it seems he has good reasons to say that.