Six publishers and translators win "China Book Industry Special Contribution Award"

On the evening of September 2, the fourth annual award ceremony for the "China Book Industry Special Contribution Award," an important part of the 16th Beijing International Book Fair, was held in Beijing. The six publishers and translators who won the award made special contributions in the fields of introducing, translating and publishing Chinese books and promoting cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world.

Six publishers and translators win "China Book Industry Special Contribution Award"

The six award winners are Guojian Chen, Howard Goldblatt, Tan Tat Chu, Kim Chang-Sik, Paula Beliwanova, and Robert Lawrence Kuhn. Guojian Chen, a Chinese living in Spain, once edited and translated “China’s Best Love Poems” into Spanish, and Howard Goldblatt, a US Sinologist who translated the “Wolf Totem” into English, is a senior translator recognized world-wide. He has translated the works of many famous Chinese authors such as Lao She, Ba Jin, Mo Yan, Su Tong, Jia Pingao, and Wang Shuo.

Liu Binjie, director-general of the General Administration of Press and Publication, said that the book, an important medium through which different countries and ethnic groups exchange views about culture, narrows the distance between them, and that reading promotes mutual understanding and respect and common development. These six award winners have acted as the bridge that facilitated this cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world.

“I hope more authors, translators and publishers will take part in introducing Chinese culture to foreign countries. The Chinese publication industry will enter the digital era, and, with the help of science and technology, culture will be popularized in a faster and better way.” Liu said that Chinese publication industry has developed fast in 2009; in the first half of the year, China’s press and publication industry recorded an average growth of around 30 percent in gross output, and sales income jumped by 20 percent, representing an upward trend amid a sluggish market.

Angeles Gonzalez Sinde, Spanish culture minister, said that thanks to the efforts on the part of publishers and translators, people could read various countries’ rich literary works.

The “China Book Industry Special Contribution Award” is a government award founded the General Administration of Press and Publication in 2005. Since its founding, 16 publishers, translators and authors from countries such as France, Russia and Germany have won the award.

Translated by LOTO