China set to shine at 32nd Abu Dhabi International Book Fair

Abu Dhabi: The 32nd edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC), will highlight China’s contribution.

Organized by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center (ADALC) of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the event reflected the enduring historical and cultural ties between the UAE and China, which spanned more than 5 years.

At this year’s fair, China has the second largest number of exhibitors at all international book fairs after Frankfurt Book Fair. The event, which runs from May 22 to 28, will see the active participation of 50 Chinese government publishing houses, 20 in person and the rest through representatives. Contributions from these publishers span a variety of fields, including scholarly, literary, educational and professional children’s books.

This year’s major players from China include Beijing International Book Fair, China National Book Import and Export Group, China Educational Books Import and Export Corporation, as well as Allen Translation Publishing House, Beijing Language and Culture University, Geely Children’s Books, Sichuan Publishing Group Co., Ltd., Phoenix Media publishing group.

However, China’s representation at the book fair is not limited to publishing houses. A 40-member delegation of officials, publishers, writers and intellectuals will also attend the event. Their contributions to the exhibition’s various projects are expected to have a significant impact.

China activities in the professional program include a copyright exchange seminar, a discussion on the experience and future of self-publishing in China, the “Arab-Chinese Copyright Forum” and the “Asian Copyright Dialogue Forum” with the participation of 10 Chinese publishing houses. Civilization – Sino-Arab Cooperation in Publishing: Prospects and Opportunities”. The latter event will feature 10 Chinese publishing houses and five speakers in Chinese, including Zhang Yiming, Chinese Ambassador to the UAE.

The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair’s cultural program promises China’s active participation, including a dialogue with Cai Jun, a renowned Chinese mystery writer. The dialogue will focus on Chinese youth literature and screen adaptations of literary works. In addition, the symposium entitled “Chinese Literature in the Eyes of Arabs” will focus on the famous Chinese novel “The Envoy”, written by Liu Lingcheng, chairman of the China Xinjiang Writers Union.

The exhibition will also see the unveiling of a series of Chinese works translated into Arabic, launching 10 editions in Arabic for the first time. The event will include participating translators and publishers, as well as the signing of a copyright agreement with Arabic Press for 30 Chinese titles, including the world-bestselling Chinese science fiction novel The Wandering Earth.

For Chinese literature lovers, a symposium titled “Chinese Science Fiction Literature and Sino-Arab Cooperation Prospects” will be held. In addition, Chinese art lovers can also look forward to the “China in the Eyes of the UAE” cultural concert presented in Chinese by UAE students on the “Learning” platform.

In addition to these cultural programmes, representatives of the Chinese delegation and Chinese publishing houses will meet officials from the Abu Dhabi Arabic Center to explore opportunities for mutual engagement at the Beijing Book Fair and ways to strengthen cooperation between the two events. The Chinese delegation will also visit several cultural and historical landmarks in Abu Dhabi, such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center and several cultural centers affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The strong bilateral cultural relationship between the UAE and China is rooted in decades of cultural cooperation. The late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s historic visit to Beijing in May 1990 marked a new era in relations between the two countries. His visit, the first by a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leader to China, laid the foundation for continued cultural exchanges.

This relationship has been deepened through frequent official visits and a shared commitment to promote cultural exchanges between the two countries. An important step in these efforts was the opening in Abu Dhabi in 2010 of the region’s first dedicated Chinese language school. This initiative aims to build a professionalized national workforce to act as a bridge to promote civilization and cultural exchange.

Further demonstrating this commitment, the Chinese language teaching program is now in 200 UAE schools. Demonstrating the breadth and depth of this cultural relationship, the UAE Ministry of Education has even considered incorporating Chinese language teaching into its curriculum, designating schools for this as part of its future strategy.