The 18th Beijing International Book Fair 31st August to 4th September 2011

BIBF is the big showcase for the China publishing industry. If you want get a visual of the industry, this is the place – the only place – to do it. All the China book trade is there, though it is only the local state-owned publishers and international publishers organizations that take stands. Of the book importers, only CNPIEC (the organizers) are officially there. None of the other state-owned importers are allowed a stand, but they are all there, as are all the disparate private components of the China book trade, so it also a shop window, on the a nation wide book trade. Some of the most useful unplanned contacts made at BIBF tend to be with provincial companies that present themselves at foreign publishers stands and sometimes become long-term partners.

ITA at BIBF

Our stand design for the 2011 fair

ITA has had a stand at BIBF since 2005. We offer our publishers display space for titles and, if they want to attend in person, table and meeting space. ITA arranges appointments and provide interpreters. We are right in the heart of the exhibition space, next to HarperCollins

ITA at BIBF 2010

How the Fair has changed and how it hasn't

BIBF was originally designed to provide a 'window-on-the-world' opportunity for academics to see international library titles that they could then order through CNPIEC. For this reason, CNPIEC guaranteed to buy firm (at 65% discount) all new academic titles exhibited. Despite all the changes in the China book trade, this arrangement was not varied until this year, when for some reason the eligibility criteria were widened to include educational and ELT titles and textbooks.

Who to see and be seen by

The first three days of the fair are business days and large numbers of librarians, often bused in by CNPIEC, still attend. However, despite frequent requests for a visitor badging system, they remain unidentified. Other trade visitors include, internet retailers, specialist wholesalers, and plenty of printers. Some international and bilingual teachers attend, though not nearly as many as foreign educational publishers would no doubt like, owing in part to the proximity of the event to the beginning of the school year.

The Asian BookExpo…of sorts

The organizers have done little to promote the fair internationally, probably because they are able to sell most of the space without doing so, but despite this BIBF is becoming the regional event that it so obviously should be. BIBF is not an Eastern Frankfurt, but it could be the Asian Book Expo, or rather something much better than that. Client publishers on the ITA stand are now arranging meetings with customers from across the Asian region, even the Eastern Hemisphere. [Picture ]