Report examines influence of books in region

A report on the influence of books from China and ASEAN countries in the past five years was released during the China-ASEAN Book Cultural Week held in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Friday.

The report was issued by Bookdao, a publishing and book market intelligence information platform, based on 147 Chinese publishing institutes related to ASEAN output and input copyrights. The report also looked at books published on ASEAN themes.

The report extracts the influence index of each book from Bookdao's data platform.

According to the report, from 2020 to 2024, the 147 publishing institutes surveyed exported 3,395 kinds of books to ASEAN countries. China imported 186 categories of books from ASEAN countries.

In this category, literature and arts, as well as social sciences, hold a leading position in influence. Meanwhile, children's books have become the largest category in terms of export volume, serving as a new growth point for copyright trade.

The influence of China's book exports to ASEAN countries shows diversity and differences in performance. Different countries have their own preferences for Chinese books. For example, Vietnam favors children's books, Malaysia shows strong interests in Chinese social science and literature books and Singapore primarily imports Chinese books on new knowledge and technology.

"Civilizations are colorful due to exchanges and enriched through mutual learning. It is hoped that cultural exchanges through books can further bridge the spiritual communication between the people of China and ASEAN countries, contributing publishing strength to the cooperative development of China and ASEAN countries in the economic, technological, and cultural fields," says Wu Shulin, chairman of the Publishers Association of China.