April 15th 2012, London

Your Royal Highness, Duke of York,

Rt. Hon. Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear friends,

Good Evening. The annual event of London Book Fair is going to open in this beautiful season of spring. It is a pageant for the international publishing and cultural circles, which is to showcase the achievements of culture and civilization of different countries and nationalities. We are greatly honored to be its “Market Focus” this time. On behalf of the Chinese government and people, I would like to convey our gratitude to the organizing committee of London Book Fair for inviting China to be the “Market Focus” and our sincere welcome to all friends from UK and the whole world to attend today’s opening ceremony.

As William Shakespeare once remarked, books nourish all the world”. He vividly explained the role of books in the progress of human civilization. London Book Fair is one of the most important book fairs in the world. Making China its “Market Focus” opens up an important window for friends of the international publishing industry to observe closer and understand better about China. At the same time, it provides a unique chance for the Chinese publishers to get a full picture of and learn from the cream of publication of other countries in the world. It is also an important platform to promote the publication trade and cultural exchanges between China and UK and that among different countries.

Ladies and gentleman,

Dear friends,

UK has a long history with splendid civilization and boasts diversified and colorful modern culture. Here is the birthplace of renowned masters of literature such as William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. They are the pride of the British people and also claim enormous contribution to the advancement of human civilization. At present the creative industry of UK is playing a leading role in the world. Your publishing industry is also well developed. You are one of the countries enjoying the highest export rate of publications in the world. China is an important ancient civilization. Over 5000 years of progress, we Chinese have created an uninterrupted and profound Chinese culture, making indelible contribution to the evolution of human civilization as well. In recent years, China’s publishing industry has been growing rapidly. It is more market-oriented, more mature and catching up quickly with the international level. In 2011, we published 300,000 books at home, imported 13,700 copyrights of books from abroad and traded with about 200 counties both in terms of trade of publications and copyrights.

2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties at the ambassadorial level between China and UK. It is also the year when London is to host the 30th Summer Olympic Games. China-UK relations are faced with new opportunities of growth. The cultural exchanges between China and UK can be traced back to history. Chinese people are familiar with works of Shakespeare and Dickens and it is a British sinologist who presented to the whole world the first translated version of the masterpiece of Chinese ancient literature the “Dream of the Red Mansion”. We are delighted to know that UK attracts the largest number of Chinese students who choose to go to Europe for further study and the enthusiasm in UK to study Chinese is on a rise. That is why we say now comes the best time for China and UK to engage in all-round cultural exchanges and cooperation. We believe that China’s participation to London Book Fair as “Market Focus” will not only promote the exchanges and cooperation between the publishing and cultural industries of our two countries but will also enhance the understanding and friendship of our two peoples. The Chinese government will continue to support the Chinese publishers and that of UK and the whole world to cooperate even more and closely so as to achieve fruitful results.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dear friends,

China, as the Market Focus, has prepared a host of events to showcase the unique charm of the Chinese civilization and offer an insight into the modern China embracing new development and growth. We hope all of you could understand China better. We also hope that through these events, we could draw upon successful experience and practices of publishing industries of Britain and other countries, build bridges to enhance mutual understanding and friendship among different peoples, promote dialogue and exchanges of different countries, civilizations and cultures and make joint effort to build a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.

In closing, I wish the London Book Fair a complete success.

Thank you.