Greece's participation in the 2016 Beijing Intl Book Fair

Greece will be present in the 23th annual Beijing  Intl Book Fair between August 24-28, 2016 and aspires to present the Chinese book lovers with an array of most recent publications in Greece as well as other significant classical titles that have constantly attracted readers' attention in the past.  The Greek participation in the exhibition is organized by the Hellenic Cultural Foundation and is assisted by the Embassy of Greece, its Press and Communication Office and the GNTO.

Greek Pavilion will comprise 18 sq m. with more than 100 titles including fiction, poetry, albums, travel books, books for kids and comics, in Greek, Chinese and English languages.

On Friday, 26/8, from 14.00-15.00, a presentation event will be held on translating Greek Literature into Chinese. The topic of the presentation is "Zorbas in China, translating Nikos Kazantzakis"  and will be presented by the well known translator Mr LI Chenggui and the historian  QUE Jianrong. (The event is assisted by the Beijing University, and Elena Avramidou teaching Greek Language and History).

Promoting Greek publications in China is a major goal of Greece's competent authorities under the Ministry of Culture such as the Hellenic Cultural Foundation. 

The cultural and educational exchanges between the two countries have been placed highly on the agenda of the recent visit of the Greek PM A Tsipras to China and were a topic of discussion in his meetings with President Xi, PM Li, and head of the NPC Zhang Dejiang.

Recently HCF President Prof Tsoukalas met with Vice Minister for Press and Media  Wu Shangzhi, and discussed the long cultural ties between the two countries which culminated in the publications field, with the nomination of China as country of honor in the Intl Book Fair of the city of Thessaloniki in Greece in 2010. This year, China participated in the Thessaloniki Book Fair with a large pavilion of 80 sq. m. and the presence of 40 publishers under the Chinese Vice Minister.

Greece has actively participated in the Bejing Intl Book Fair since 2006. More than 200 Greek books have been published in China including ancient literature, poetry, and many modern writers such as  Kazantzakis, Elytis, Kavafis have been translated,  along with the works of many contemporary writers, into Chinese.