Chinese books gain popularity at Cairo book fair
Decorated with Chinese-style red lanterns, the pavilion of translated Chinese books saw a big turnout of book lovers at the 54th edition of Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), which concluded on February 6, 2023.
The pavilion of Bayt Al-Hekma Cultural Group, a publishing house mainly devoted to the Arabic translation of Chinese books as well as Chinese language learning books and courses, displayed during the fair about 1,000 book titles in Arabic and English on Chinese culture, history, literature, economy, and among many others.
Chinese books pavilion was frequented by visitors of all ages. Some parents chose children’s books for their children, while teens and young people were drawn to books about Chinese culture, history, and development.
The fair also saw many Chinese-learning Egyptian students coming for relevant books, dictionaries and lexicons to help improve their linguistic skills.
“I greatly admired the Chinese culture and people. So, I want to learn more about China, an ancient civilization with a unique language, history, literature and culture,” Noura Gamal, a junior student of Chinese at Ain Shams University in Cairo.
Meanwhile, a Chinese novel translated into Arabic by Egyptian translator Radwa Imbabi won the best-translated children’s book at the fair.
Ahmed al-Saeed, CEO of the group, said that China’s tremendous development is one of the reasons for the growing popularity of Chinese books.
“We cover everything related to China for Arab readers. We provide printed, audio and electronic books on the most well-known Arab platforms, and they achieve great success. We have moved from the stage of promotion to that of popularity,” said the head of Bayt Al-Hekma.
Source: Xinhua
