Chinese Fever “Strikes” MIBF 2010 – A Special Report on the Russian Year of China Event during Moscow International Book Fair 2010

Moscow, September 6th – the “Year of China” event at the 23rd MIBF drew to a successful conclusion at Moscow All-Russia Exhibition Centre; the event was jointly sponsored by the General Administration of Press and Publication of the PRC and Hanban. During the 6-day book fair, the Chinese delegation displayed over 3,400 volumes of books in regards to Chinese education, literature, art, science, tourism etc and attracted more than 30,000 Russian visitors.

The 100 square metres covered by the Chinese booth was located at the 75th pavilion, the General Administration of Press and Publication of the PRC and Hanban each occupied 50 sq.m. The booth sold over 4,000 volumes of books during the book fair, some of the best sellers were Chinese learning materials, Chinese cultural books and children’s books. Russian—Chinese dictionaries and other reference books concerning Chinese education and Chinese books in Russian all received a warm welcome from the Russian people.

The Chinese booth also arranged various cultural activities in addition to displaying Chinese books. The Confucius Institute at Lomonosov Moscow State University held a “Learning Chinese, Experiencing China – Chinese Language Learning Seminar”, the Confucius Institute at Russian State University for the Humanities held a promotional seminar on the Chinese New Beginning and Beijing Language and Culture University Press held a “3G Your Chinese Experience” activity. In addition, the booth's staff also conducted the launch ceremony for the Sino-Russian Publication Translation Forum and the book Breaking Though (Russian version) written by former Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing. These activities all embodied the theme of Chinese Teaching and Translation and Publication, attracted a huge number of visitors, and boosted the influence of the Chinese language. They also boosted the visibility of Chinese publishers in Russia and enabled Russian people to have a better understanding of China and enhanced Sino-Russian cultural exchange.