Books find a place in growing ties

China and the Arab countries have built growing ties through books over the past decade, experts and business insiders say.

Egyptian publisher and Sinologist Ahmad El-Saeed recalled a moment at the Cairo International Book Fair, one of the world's largest of its kind, in February, during an interview with the Chinese Culture Translation and Studies Support Network.

A reader, impressed by Chinese writer Liu Zhenyun's full-length novel Someone To Talk To and short story Tapu (referring to a town name in the plot), asked whether they had an Arabic version of Liu's most recent work Laughter and Tears: A Novel, which was published in July 2021 in China.

El-Saeed, whose company Bayt Alhekma Cultural has so far translated and published more than 1,000 China-themed books in the Arab world, noted that there is also market demand for works of contemporary writers like Yu Hua, Xu Zechen and Nobel laureate Mo Yan.

Bestsellers are those introducing China's traditional culture and modern values, he says.

"Arab readers want to know about Taoist and Confucian thoughts, the ancient art of war, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping's thoughts, socialism with Chinese characteristics, and how China manages reform and opening-up with miraculous achievements in merely four decades … Readers are eager to explore the cultural roots behind China's fast growth."

He adds that biographies of successful entrepreneurs like Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei, are also welcomed.

It was very different from around a decade ago, when there were few publishing exchanges between China and Arab countries, and his team struggled to get Chinese works into Arab book fairs, he says.

During the Riyadh International Book Fair in the capital of Saudi Arabia in October 2021, the over 300 copies of the first and second volumes of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China that his team brought sold out early, while major bookstore chains in the country ordered another 5,000 copies, El-Saeed said.

At this year's book fair in Riyadh from Sept 29 to Oct 8, China Intercontinental Press & Media Co brought around 3,000 copies of books from a dozen domestic publishing houses, as well as creative cultural products, according to Yang Xue, deputy director of the company's international cooperation department of publication center.

On Oct 4, during the book fair, the company and the Center for Research and Intercommunication Knowledge of Saudi Arabia held a news conference to introduce and promote a dozen works, including books on Chinese literature and geography, a biography on Pony Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of Tencent, one on the rule of law in China, and a book on Saudi Arabia's history of currency, Yang says.

The two organizations have been joining hands backed by a memorandum signed in 2016 in which China and Saudi Arabia agreed to translate and publish classic, modern and contemporary works from each other.

Such a systematic translation and publication mechanism with the Arab countries dates back to 2010, when China and the League of Arab States signed a memorandum to translate and publish 50 works, 25 for each side. The mission has just been completed, and sales are stable and satisfying, Yang says.

In late October, China and Yemen signed a similar memorandum upon which 20 classic works from the two countries are expected to be translated and published during the upcoming five years.

fangaiqing@chinadaily.com.cn