Opening a New Chapter

Last year, Gao Linze, a 16-year-old high school student, was the final visitor at the Shanghai Book Fair (SBF). This year, when the fair held its 17th edition at the Shanghai Exhibition Center from August 12 to 18, he was invited to be the first visitor and his arrival at 9 a.m. kicked off the event.

Like last year, Gao headed for the international publishers and bought three English novels at the China International Publishing Group (CIPG) stall. He told Huang Wei, Director General of CIPG’s general editorial office, it was his sixth consecutive year at the fair, which he has been attending since he was a primary school student.

From its inception in 2004, SBF has developed from a regional event into a national cultural activity. Shanghai has a rich reading culture, where reading is regarded as a part of quality life, Huang told . Though SBF