Haven for literature lovers

This year, the Beijing International Book Fair-the world's second-biggest such event after Frankfurt-will have an exhibition area of 97,700 square meters, the largest in its history, Mei Jia reports.

The capital's book lovers are in for a treat once again as the city prepares for the 25th Beijing International Book Fair from Aug 22 to 26. And the organizers are going all out to ensure its success with the integration of the publishing sector with the cultural and the technological spheres.

"Besides the new features this year, we are also looking at the fair to boost international exchanges as well as to ensure that Chinese publishing goes global," says Lin Liying, deputy general manager of the China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corp, which is also part of the fair's organizing committee.

The 16th Beijing International Book Festival will also be part of the fair for the fourth time. And the festival will showcase Beijing's culture through its publications, according to Wang Yefei from the Beijing municipal bureau of press, publication, film, radio and television.

This year, the Beijing fair-the world's second-biggest such event after Frankfurt-will have an exhibition area of 97,700 square meters, the largest in its history. And the fair's eight exhibition halls will host a total of 2,500 publishing organizations from 93 countries and regions, including 1,520 from overseas.

Four countries and regions will join the Beijing book fair for the first time.

The number of British publishers has increased sharply. They've booked the largest exhibition booths. And the number of Australian publishers has increased to 12 from five in 2017, and they say that they were quite satisfied with the last fair and the results.

More than 300,000 titles will be exhibited at the fair, and the event will host about 1,000 book events.

The Kingdom of Morocco is the guest of honor at this year's fair. Said Kasmi, the counselor at its Chinese embassy, says Moroccan publishers and cultural organizations will bring 800 titles to Beijing.

Morocco will hold three talks during the fair to explain Moroccan literature and culture; discuss translations of Chinese works; and shine a spotlight on Sino-Moroccan relations with regard to the Belt and Road Initiative. A Moroccan trio will showcase Al Andalous, a type of music passed down from the 12th century.