China and its culture take the centre stage at the 32nd Tehran International Book Fair that aims to revive the legendary Silk Road through cultural exchanges with Asia's rising dragon.
A delegation of some 200 Chinese cultural figures and officials as well as 94 publishers from the Asian country will attend the Tehran book fair, that has opened its doors to avid readers on Wednesday.
Organiser of Iran’s biggest book fair have chosen the motto “Getting to Know China” for the event in a bid to encourage Iranian people to be more familiar with the country through reading, a representative of the China National Publications Import and Export (Group) Corporation (CNPIEC) said in a press conference held at the Iran Cultural Fairs Institute in Tehran on Monday.
“One of the most important reasons why China has been selected as the guest of honour at this fair is to revive the Silk Road through reading,” said Mohsen Javadi, Tehran Book Fair Director.
Cao Wenxuan, children’s book writer and the winner of Hans Christian Andersen Award, Mai Jia and Xu Zechen are among the writers.
Last year, 'Day of Iran' ceremony, organized by Iran's Cultural Center in China, was held on the sidelines of the 25th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF).
Nearly 90% of the Chinese publishers invited are participating at the event for the first time, according to a Chinese official who noted that number of Chinese books offered at the Tehran fair is the highest number of books that are sent outside China.
Chinese and Iranian authorities will also sign copyright agreements for the translation and publishing four Chinese books, according to Iran Book News Agency (IBNA).
Over 800 publishers from about 30 countries, including Japan, Germany, India, Spain, Russia, Serbia, Lebanon and Armenia, will also participate in the event, which will run until 4 May.