Participants pose for a group photo during the sharing session.

Phoenix Publishing and Media Group held a sharing session in London on March 12 during the 2024 London Book Fair to discuss the books about canals worldwide and international communication.

Gareth Rapley, director of LBF, expressed a warm welcome to PPMG for participating in the book fair as an independent exhibitor. The Phoenix booth and other Chinese book booths have brought fascinating Chinese stories to global peers in the book industry, serving as an essential window for readers at the fair to observe and read about China.

Zhou Jianjun, vice-president of PPMG, stated that PPMG is committed to being an excellent global producer and disseminator of intellectual content. They value introducing and exporting their products through major international book fairs.

He said he was pleased to see that the Phoenix booth had set up a special "Grand Canal Photo Exhibition" and showcased the trial English version of the World Canals series at the fair.

Zhou added that they had planned a series of activities titled "Reading China's Grand Canal, Telling Stories of World Canals" on the professional platform where global publishers gather, attracting positive attention from media friends in the book industry.

World Canals series.

Phoenix team spent eight years organizing over 100 experts to write and publish The Chronicle of the Canals in China, a comprehensive account of the changes in the Chinese canal system, hydraulic engineering, operational management, canal transportation, key towns along the canals, social and cultural phenomena, important historical figures, and more, totaling 14 million words.

"After completing this significant publishing project, we did not stop but continued to organize the publication of dozens of books on the Chinese Grand Canal, including the Biography of the Grand Canal, allowing readers to have a more comprehensive understanding of the Grand Canal, Chinese canal culture, and China's long history," Zhou stated.

Additionally, PPMG leverages its advantages and channels in international outreach to jointly plan the World Canals series with David Edwards-May, former president of Inland Waterways International, to promote the canals worldwide.

Edwards-May expressed on-site that canals are an essential topic of long-term international concern, emphasizing the necessity of knowledge sharing in this professional field.

The first issue of the World Canals series covers seven world-famous canals, including the Göta Canal in Sweden, the Main-Danube Canal in Germany, and the Naviglio Canal in Italy. After the publication of the series, promotional activities will be carried out through book launches, reading-sharing sessions, canal photo exhibitions, and more to bring canal culture closer to global readers.

The "Reading China's Grand Canal" event plans to have the World Canals series published domestically and internationally. Chinese Grand Canal-themed book and photo exhibitions in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, and the United States will be held for the event. Chinese and foreign canal research experts will be invited to participate in comparative research workshops on world canals.