Beijing International Book Fair rescheduled for September

The Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) has been rescheduled for later this month following its last-minute postponement last week.

Orignally scheduled to begin on 25th August, the event was cancelled the day before owing to the spread of coronavirus in the city, which caused difficulties for UK publishers due to take part.

On 1st September it was announced the fair will now take place from 14th to 18th September, convening publishers in the Chinese capital for a five-day event. Over 2,200 Chinese and international publishers are expected to attend, either online or in person, organisers said. 

A digital iteration of the event will run parallel to the physical fair, hosted on BIBF's digital platform SMART! BIBF, which will be available throughout the year.

Fair director Liying Lin said: “We are delighted to welcome Chinese and locally based international publishers back to BIBF. As you can see from the phenomenal success of international titles in the Chinese book market in the last six months, there are so many opportunities for international publishers in China. We hope as many international publishers use our SMART! BIBF services to engage with the publishing community and really find out what is going on in the market over the last year. We cannot wait to open this vibrant book industry event and we are delighted to be able to host events around Beijing for book lovers as part of BIBF’s Global Reading Festival."

The forum will open with a discussion about the role of the publishing community in building a better future, with a focus on how technology can empower new developments in this area. It will be hosted by Zhang Jichen, vice-president of the China Publishing Group and president of the China National Publications Import & Export Group.