From October 16th to 23rd, 2023, the delegation from China Renmin University Press visited Germany and France. The delegation visited prestigious publishers and libraries in the two countries, including the library and press of the Leipzig University and the Confucius institute Leipzig, the Asfored Training Center, Prisma Media, and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, etc. The delegation also attended the 75th Frankfurt Book Fair, jointly released new books with Springer Nature, and held rights talks with publishers like Pearson Education, etc.
On the afternoon of October 16th, the delegation visited the library and press of the Leipzig University, and had a discussion with Prof. Dr. Ulrich Johannes Schneider, Director of Leipzig University Library, and Prof. Philip Clart, Head of Department of East Asian Studies of Leipzig University and Director of Confucius institute Leipzig. The delegation also visited the Albertina Library and the Library of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and presented Chinese books and academic journals to the libraries.
Presenting Chinese books and academic journals to Albertina Library
Later that day, the delegation visited the Confucius institute Leipzig, which was co-constructed by Renmin University of China, and had a discussion with Director Prof. Yang Qingfang, Director Prof. Philip Clart, and Executive Director Dr. Benjamin Creutzfeldt, as well as the teachers and students of the Confucius Institute, and exchanged views on the construction and development of the Institute in the local community, the international dissemination of Chinese culture, and the construction of teaching materials for the Confucius Institutes. The delegation presented Chinese books and academic journals to the Confucius Institute.
Discussion with the Confucius institute Leipzig and presentation of Chinese books and academic journals
On October 18th, the delegation attended the 75th Frankfurt Book Fair. This year’s Frankfurt Book Fair was restored to its full scale in terms of the number of exhibitors. It also witnessed the first large-scale return of China’s publishing industry to the international publishing stage after the Pandemic. More than 4,200 exhibitors from 94 countries and regions participated in the fair with their latest books and publications, and Chinese publishers and representatives presented at the fair more than 1,000 kinds of high-quality books and publications. More than a hundred of CRUP’s publications were brought to the exhibition, including “Studies on Chinese Modernization” Series, “Read and Understand the New Age” series, China in Figures: Development and Achievements, County and Township China, and other Chinese books, as well as foreign-language books selected from the project subsidized by the Chinese Fund for Humanities and Social Sciences, the “B&R Book Program”, and the project subsidized by the Fund of Renmin University of China for Overseas Introduction of Academic Classics, etc. Leaders from the Publication Bureau of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee visited the stand of CRUP at the fair.
On the afternoon of October 18th, CRUP and Springer Nature held a book launching ceremony at the fair, jointly releasing 20 new English-language books. Guan Xiaobin, Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Department of Renmin University of China RUC), Li Hongyu, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Information Center for Social Sciences of RUC, Guo Xiaoming, Deputy General Manager of CRUP, and Myriam Poort, Vice President, Humanities Books of Springer Nature, and Li Yan, Editorial Director of Humanities and Social Sciences Books and Reginal Director for Books, China Springer Nature, jointly unveiled the new books at the ceremony.
Deputy General Manager Guo Xiaoming held business talks with overseas publishing organizations including Pearson Education.
Business talks
From October 20th to October 22nd, the delegation visited Asfored Training Center and Prisma Media in France, and conducted business exchanges with the two publishers respectively. The delegation had in-depth talks on the editing and publishing of professional academic books, marketing and promotion, digital publishing and copyright business, etc..
Publishing Exchange with Asfored Training Center, France
With more than 20 magazine and MOOK (Magazine Book) brands, including the French editions of National Geographic and Harvard Business Review, Prisma Media is one of the top magazines and book publishers in France. The delegation had in-depth talks with them on issues relating to teamwork within the editorial team, the situation of sales of the magazines and MOOKs, and so on.
The delegation also visited local bookstores and libraries to learn more about the book markets, as well as publishing and printing in Germany and France.
Luo Hailin, Guo Hong, Chen Yongfeng, Liu Guangyu, Liao Bin, Huang Rong, Zhang Liwei, Zang Yiming and Yang Yang from various sections of CRUP also joined the delegation.