“The reason why it is so popular in Japan, in my view, is that it is an original mystery novel with large amounts of traditional Chinese cultural elements. I believe using elements that the foreign readers are accustomed to will make the traditional Chinese culture more acceptable,” said Ma Rujun, the president of the New Star Press at a forum themed “70 years of China’s publishing going global” held in the Shanghai Exhibition Center, the main venue of the 2019 Shanghai Book Fair.

Books displayed by the New Star Press at the 2019 Shanghai Book Fair. [Photo by Zheng Qian/ Eastday]

The book Ma was talking about is a Japanese version of a Chinese detective novel published by the press before being introduced by Hayakawashobo, Japan's largest science fiction publishing house. Having created great public sensation, the book has been one of the best sellers in Japan with more than 50,000 having been sold there up till now.

According to Ma, as one of the affiliated presses of the China International Publishing Group (CIPG), China’s oldest publisher established in 1949, the New Star Press has been focusing on broadcasting traditional Chinese culture overseas and has exerted a wide influence.

Presidents of seven publishing houses affiliated to the CIPG give speeches. [Photo by Zheng Qian/ Eastday]

At the CIPG-hosted forum, presidents of other affiliated publishing houses, like the New World Press, the Foreign Languages Press and Sinolingua, also discussed telling Chinese stories to the world in accordance with the tastes of foreign readers.

Xu Bu, president of the Foreign Languages Press, introduced that it laid the foundation and opened the curtain of the 70-year overseas development of China’s foreign languages publishing with Mao Tse Tung on People’s Democratic Dictatorship in four foreign languages published in November 1949, only one month after the establishment of the new PRC.

The governance of China exhibited in the CIPG exhibition hall at the 2019 Shanghai Book Fair. [Photo by Zheng Qian/ Eastday]

In recent years, the Foreign Languages Press published another influential work by a Chinese leader -- President Xi Jinping’s The governance of China. In 28 languages, the book series comprehensively and systematically interpret China's development philosophy, development path and internal and external policies, being an authoritative reference for people to understand contemporary China and the Chinese Communist Party.