By Mei Jia

Langfang in North China’s Hebei province, which is near Beijing and Tianjin, is set to host the 27th National Book Expo this summer.

The exhibition, which was first held in 1980, is one of the oldest book events of its kind in the country. In recent years, the expo has grown, and now features talks by writers, reading promotion activities as well as showcasing regional culture.

For years, the event was mostly hosted by provincial capitals around the country. The successful expo held in Baotou in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in July “inspired us to look for smaller cities”, says Yan Xiaohong, vice-minister of Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

Langfang, with a population of 4.6 million, is the first city in Hebei to be honored for promoting reading, with a lot of book events held in the past three years, drawing around 150,000 people.

Publishing is an important industry in Hebei, with the majority of its cultural businesses comprising media, publishing, printing and binding. Read more

Source: China Daily