Internet era brings both challenges, opportunities for publishing industry

The forum themed "Development of the Publishing and Media Industry in the Internet Age" is a major event of the ongoing BookExpo America (BEA) 2015.

According to Allen, E-book revenues have been growing significantly over the past years, and now there is still growth but it is leveling up.

"Wu said earlier today that there were 6,000 copyrighted works that came into China from other countries, and only 1,000 copyrighted works that went in the other direction. My reaction was that the opportunities are enormous for Chinese publishers to expand their reach into overseas markets," Allen said.

BEA 2015, the largest annual book trade fair in the United States, is held at the Javits Convention Center in New York City from Wednesday to Friday.

The expo, which dates back to 1947 and was then known as the American Booksellers Association Convention and Trade Show, is usually held in a major US city in late May or early June. It offers the largest selection of English-language titles and is also the largest gathering of booksellers, librarians, retailers and book industry professionals in North America.

China, an emerging power in the international publishing industry, has been invited as the guest of honor for BEA 2015's Global Market Forum (GMF) program, which features three full days of education sessions, exhibits and off-site cultural events.

"When American publishers go to China and freely publish works about the United States, Chinese people understand America better; when the Chinese publishers that are here publish in the United States and the Americans read those books, they will understand China better. And that will result in the strengthening of the relationship, so I thank the organizers for choosing China," said Steve Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations.

Delivering a great part of his speech in fluent Chinese, Orlins closed his remarks with a quote from Confucius, "everything is inferior compared to reading," which he recited first in Chinese and then in English.

BEA has been held in New York City for seven consecutive years since 2009, while its GMF program has featured Spain, Italy, Russia and Mexico as guests of honor since 2010.

The book fair is scheduled to move to Chicago next year and Poland is taking over as the next GMF guest of honor.