Cross-cultural 'baby'

Wu, with a smile that indicates her tacit agreement with Bourne's humor, says she believes the book provides food for thought to those who are interested in publishing and culture, inside and outside of China. Focusing on international collaboration and exchanges in the age of digitalization and globalization, the book offers insights into doing business in China.

Its presentation style provides a refreshing precedent in the publishing industry. Zhao Qizheng, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, calls the half in English and half in Chinese book, a "perfect match".

"For years, we've seen huge volumes of publications promoting various cross-cultural dialogues, but few of them are devoted to the topic of the most important media of cultural expression - books," Zhao says.

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The first thing that surprised Zhao and other readers of the book is that both Wu and Bourne share amazingly unanimous views based on their abundant international publishing experiences.

Wu started writing the book when she was serving at the information office, while working on the China Book International project. Briefly, after that, she invited Bourne to be her co-writer.

They first agreed on the 10 topics to write about. Wu would write first and send her copy to Bourne, to extend his thoughts.

There were times, the writers revealed, when Bourne started writing without reading Wu's script. But when he was done with his part and later checked with Wu, they realized that they have almost unified views and share the same principles, albeit different approaches.

They agree on the challenges of e-publishing, the function of bestsellers, and the importance of telling stories in cross-cultural exchanges.