China has increased cooperation in the publishing industry with Belt and Road countries since the initiative was proposed in 2013, an official said Tuesday.

At a publishing forum in Beijing, Wu Shangzhi, deputy head of China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), said that the overall proportion of China's copyright trade with Belt and Road countries had increased 10 percentage points over the past three years.

Since 2014, the country's copyright trade volume with Belt and Road countries had an annual increase of 20 percent, Wu said.

China also launched several translation and publishing projects open to Belt and Road countries in recent years. More than 50 publishing institutions along the Belt and Road have sought cooperation with Chinese publishing houses, with over 300 translated books published.

A long-term cooperative mechanism should be set up to strengthen publishing cooperation with Belt and Road countries, Wu added.

As an important event of the 24th Beijing International Book Fair, which is scheduled for Aug. 23 to 27, the forum was jointly held by SAPPRFT, the State Council Information Office and the China Association for Promoting Democracy.