Chinese books on display at Cairo International Book Fair appeals to Egyptian readers

on Feb 09, 2022

53rd Cairo International Book Fair is a major ongoing cultural event in the Egyptian capital that commenced on January 26. During the event, Egyptian book enthusiasts treated themselves with hundreds of titles in China.

In the pavilions of the Bayt Al-Hekma Cultural Group, a local publishing business specializing in Arabic translations of Chinese books, more than 600 Arabic books translated from Chinese were on show.

During the two-week cultural festival, Ahmed al-Saeed, CEO of Bayt Al-Hekma, remarked, "Our main goal is to be a cultural bridge between the Arab and Chinese cultures."

Chinese historical literature, culture, economy, dictionaries, geography, and lexicons were featured in the event. It also included bestseller Chinese children’s books in Arabic. "We also have a pavilion for children's books, with about 300 book titles, in partnership with China's renowned Jieli Publishing House," Saeed told the Xinhua News Agency. The language books were published by Egypt's Bayt Al-Hekma Cultural Group with its Chinese partner Peking University Press and Sinolingua, he observed.
Bayt Al-Hekma won the Best-translated Book award at the fair for its Arabic edition of Belt and Road Initiative: A Comparative Study of Regional and National Economies.

The reason behind Egyptian readers' growing interest in China-related books is that Chinese culture is one of the closest to Arab culture, and China's development success has made Egyptians curious about its experience. The 53rd edition increased its number of days in order to provide the public with the opportunity to delve into the exhibition and support the book and publishing industry in Egypt. New technological advancements and Artificial Intelligence were also a focus at the book fair.

Saeed said the rising number of Egyptian students of the Chinese language and the close political, social, economic ties between Egypt and China are behind the rising attention to China among local readers.