A symposium on overseas publication

She Jiangtao:

It is not easy to promote Chinese literature overseas. It is a process. I would like to know what your experience has been like?

Lu Min, writer:

Talking with sinologists has helped me realize that people are more interested in contemporary Chinese literary works than before. They want to learn more about urban life in China and the lives of young people in China today and want to read titles by female Chinese writers, as they believe that problems faced by females usually represent all of a society's problems.

Zhang Qingning, editor-in-chief of the Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House:

The seminar's tagline is "reading Chinese literature works with the world" and our publishing house happens to have some experiences in this field.

The translated versions of Chinese literature works published by us are displayed at the entrance to this seminar. They are some of our most successful examples of overseas publication.

Our publishers are introducing China and the current lives of Chinese people to the world through literature, and that's what we are trying to do.

Yuan Nan, editor-in-chief of Yilin Press Ltd:

Yilin Press has been bringing foreign literature works to China, and in 2017 we started publishing our original resources. We have accumulated some original Chinese literature works that can be exported to other countries.

We value the acceptance of our publications in other countries after publishing them overseas. For example, the works of Lu Min, Yu Hua and Su Tong have been well-received by readers in Serbia, Egypt, and Indonesia.

I believe that the quality of an overseas publication must be good and the timing is quite important as well. For example, the Japanese version of Sanjiangyuan and Russian version of My Heart Belongs to Dunhuang were available soon after their publications.

Yilin has also established overseas branches, intensified cooperation with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, and attached importance to the selection of translators.

She Jiangtao:

Well said. Let me summarize it for you. The reason Yilin performs well in overseas publication is that Yilin's literature publications are of high quality and it publishes world-renowned literature. In addition, the publishing houses Yilin imported copyrights from are world famous, enabling Yilin to introduce our high-quality works to these publishing houses.

Yilin has become strong by bringing global literature to China and I hope that it can become stronger by bringing Chinese literature to the world.

Yuan Shuang, City of Literature correspondent of Nanjing in UNESCO:

Nanjing became the first city in China to be recognized as a City of Literature by UNESCO in 2019 after three years of efforts. We need a good platform to share Chinese stories, and the City of Literature is such an international exchange platform. After receiving the title, Nanjing has received more nominations for international literature prizes than before.

She Jiangtao:

What you just said was so well. I hope that when we arrive in Nanjing, our Phoenix Literature & Art Publishing Ltd and Yilin Press Ltd will talk with you about how to use Nanjing's City of Literature title to introduce more Jiangsu writers to the world.

As Nanjing is a city of literature, it should organize many gatherings for writers around the country. Nanjing should also host important international events to enhance communication and exchanges with other cities and improve its international profile.