Publishers eye new generation

Roleff Krakstromy from Finland pins his hopes on the Chinese market, saying that while the European market is getting saturated, people in China are eager for new content.

At the booth of Danish company Globe Publishing, Per Schou shows a series of playsets, each consisting of a book and board game he says is specially designed to helping develop the creative, physical, personal and social skills of children.

Schou is currently seeking a Chinese business partner to bring the product to the Chinese market.

Collaborations with foreign companies in the publishing sphere look set to continue as the China Children's Press and Publishing Group said at the fair that it plans to build a cooperation platform with countries that are part of the Belt and Road Initiative to boost international copyright trading and cultural exchanges.

The director of the group, Li Xueqian, says that there could be a joint booth to represent this partnership at major international book fairs such as the Bologna Children's Book Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Authors, editors and publishers agree that now is the golden age for children's publications in China.

Liang Yan, an editor of children's literature, says: "Never before have we seen so many publishing houses print so many books for children in China within one year. Never before have the government and NGOs paid so much attention to children's books, and authors who used to write for grown-ups are now more enthusiastic about creating content for young readers."

This phenomenon has boosted the confidence of the industry and has encouraged publishers to invest more money and efforts to improve the quality of their products, something that many parents used to find lacking. This was largely due to publishers being reluctant to take on the risk of introducing new titles to the market while cutting on design costs for new editions of classical tales.