Turning a new page

From top: The Spanish edition of Liu Qingbang's The Sacred Wood will be published in June, and Collections of Contemporary Chinese Stories and Chi Zijian's epic novel The Right Bank of the Argun River in November.

He says the country's fast growth has drawn international interest.

"People want to know why and how. And books of the like were mainly written by foreigners over the past years," he says.

"Now we have more written by Chinese, providing Chinese perspectives and Chinese interpretations."

Shi Hongjun, vice-president of Shanghai Century Publishing Group, says the group has made "study of China's contemporary development" the top priority in its international publishing plans, together with Chinese literature and traditional culture.

The group's 16 titles under "30 Years of China's Reform Studies" had 14 books jointly published with Cengage Learning of the United States, offering ideas by top scholars from multiple areas to unveil the back story behind China's reform and opening-up.

International relations expert Zhang Weiwei's The China Wave: The Rise of a Civilizational State is a bestseller. US World Century launched its English version last year. Shi says the English version has been selected as a Washington University teaching reference.

"The China mode of development, its economic, social and political structure, told through books and publications, offers explanations and satisfies the desire of knowing why," Shi says.

China Publishing Group Corp's vice-president Li Yan says his group also benefits from publishing contemporary Chinese themes.

"We changed our pitching style to appeal more to the international market," Li says.

The group is shifting from selecting topics gleaned from domestic publications to pitching topics together with world-acclaimed experts.

One successful case is Frederick William Engdahl and his The New Energy Wars in 2011 and Target China in January. Both books were first launched in China and then sold internationally.

"The books on contemporary China are especially important to the global audience, because they tell of the existence of a second path to pursue an ideal life, besides the path the West believes and preaches," CBI office director Zhang says.

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