Special guest China prominent at New Delhi book fair

A reader browses Chinese books at the New Delhi World Book Fair in India, Jan 9, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

As the New Delhi World Book Fair has begun in the Indian capital, all roads seem to lead toward the city's Pragati Maidan, a vast venue designed for exhibitions.

Book lovers, young and old, are making a beeline to the halls, which are showcasing a wide array of books and cultural activities.

The fair will go on until Jan 17, much to the delight of visitors and those interested in looking at the world through the books.

This year, the guest of honor is China, which has set up a beautifully designed pavilion spread across 1,200 square meters at hall number 7.

At the pavilion, visitors walk through the chambers housing hundreds of Chinese books translated into English displayed on its shelves.

"It is really good to be part of this book fair," said Yin Yamin, Rights Manager, Intellectual Property Publishing House.

"We want to introduce our concept of publishing in India and offer our help to the publishers here in understanding the patent literature publishing."

More than 250 Chinese delegates including publishers and authors are participating in the book fair that kicked off on Saturday.

Around 5,000 Chinese books will be showcased in the nine-day long fair and books translated from the Chinese language into English and Hindi are conspicuously on display.

The visiting publishers from China hope to strengthen their ties with India by providing a glimpse into China's culture and knowledge.

"We want more and more people to visit us, read our books and understand them. People in India can read our work and see how we have moved forward," said Yolanda Liu, Vice Director of China Renmin University Press.

"Once we will understand each other, we can come closer and strengthen our relations," said Liu.

"We publish academic work in philosophy, economics, politics, law sociology finance, aesthetics and other subjects," said Liu, "This program and exchange would certainly help to bring us closer to our counterparts in India and would go a long way in strengthening our ties."