Phoenix Publishing and Media Group (PPMG) consolidated its relationships with US associates as the Jiangsu-based publishing giant sent a delegation to the United States from June 21 to 26. 

Zhao Lei, editor-in-chief of Xiandai Kuaibao, PPMG's subsidiary urban daily newspaper, led the delegation and helped "pin" partners from New York City. 

Pace University is one of PPMG's close associates, with the two sides joining hands for 12 years. Among the various fruitful collaborations, the Confucius Institute, which has also gained support from Jiangsu's Nanjing Normal University, has been of particular significance. 

Nancy Reagin, an interim associate provost of academic affairs at Pace, spoke highly of the Confucius Institute, saying she looked forward to Sino-US cultural exchanges being carried out in more diversified forms. 

The two sides opened dialogues on the composing and publishing of PPMG-imprinted Chinese textbooks, and achieved a consensus on the Confucius Institute at Pace taking charge of the content and helping PPMG further promote its books. 

Sherman Raskin, a professor at Pace with rich expertise in publishing, also expressed his willingness to do more to deepen cooperation between PPMG and the university. 

The delegation got a better understanding of doing business at the Frankfurt Book Fair at its New York office, learning about how its copyright cooperation system works, how it has brought the US and German publishing industries closer through the Children's Books Salon, and how Publishing Perspectives, an online business magazine covering the trends, people, and companies that shape the global book industry, has come from conception to publication. 

The delegation also gained deep insights into IPR, an online sales and trading platform. IPR sealed a cooperation agreement with PPMG's fully controlled Phoenix Publishing and Media Inc (PPM) this March. 

At the Chicago headquarters of Phoenix International Publications Inc, a leading publisher of children's interactive books in North America of which PPM acquired all its children's assets in 2014, the delegation featured the company's publications and sales performance. They also were given in-depth insights into the company's assets and internal management system.