(L-R): Ambassador Le Yucheng; SAPPRFT Vice Minister Sun Shoushan; NBT-India Chair Shri Baldeo Bhai Sharma; and India’s HR Minister Smriti Irani at the NDWBF’s inauguration on Jan. 9 in New Delhi. (Photo : www.newdelhiworldbookfair.gov.in)
Words, indeed, can be powerful tools to connect people; more so, nations.
Not only did China grace the opening of the 24th New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) on Jan. 9 in New Delhi, India as guest of honor, Beijing-based China Pictorial (Renmin Huabao) also launched an English magazine titled China-India Dialogue the following day.
A subsidiary of China International Publishing Group (CIPG), China Pictorial now publishes the monthly China-India Dialogue. It covers issues concerning India and India-China relations and follows a theme, reported China.org.
The inaugural issue focuses on the theme, “Internet plus enterprises.”
With many local and international companies using the Internet heavily to achieve their respective business endeavors, Indian Ambassador to China Ashok K. Kantha finds the theme “a topic worthy of discussion.”
The Indian ambassador said his country and China “will both benefit from the trend.”
Kantha and Le Yucheng, the Chinese Ambassadors to India, each contributed an essay for China-India Dialogue’s maiden issue.
Kantha wrote about the India-China Economic Cooperation, reported Niti Central.
Wen Zhihong, China-India Dialogue’s editorial director, said that the next theme will touch on “poverty relief,” according to The Hindu.
China Pictorial, which has Chinese and English versions, has been “reporting on those issues most important to the people, reflecting dramatic reforms of society and bearing full witness to the rapid development of China” for more than 50 years, according to its official website.
Founded in 1949, CIPG aims “to introduce China to foreign countries through books, magazines and websites,” according to the website. Its other subsidiaries include Beijing Review, Center for International Communication Studies, China Today, New World Press and Sinolingua.
Lu Cairong, CIPG vice president, and Sun Shoushan, China’s vice minister of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), joined Ambassador Le during the launch.
Organized by the National Book Trust (NBT) of India, NDWBF is a publishing event that was first held in 1972. India’s Ministry of Commerce and India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) act as co-organizers.
Usually taking place every two years, the event saw itself getting held every year beginning in 2012.
The 2016 NDWBF runs until Jan. 17.
