Publishing industries on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should collaborate more closely to tap into the booming Chinese language education market worldwide, said Liu Binjie (柳斌杰), head of China’s General Administration of Publications and Press at a forum in Taipei yesterday.
“More than 30 million people worldwide take up Chinese each year. We estimate the figure could rise to 100 million,” Liu said.
Liu is heading a delegation of Chinese publishing and printing companies to Taiwan to celebrate 20 years of exchanges between the literary industries on both sides.
“Despite conflict between China and Taiwan throughout the years, the publishing industries on both sides remained friendly to each other. It’s a testament to culture and literature as great ways to promote understanding and assuage hostilities,” he said.
Liu encouraged more Taiwanese and Chinese businesspeople to invest in each other’s distribution and printing companies.
Taiwanese companies are barred from setting up independent publishing houses in China. All investments must be a joint-ventures with China-based companies.
The rules on Chinese investment in Taiwan’s publishing industry are even stricter, said a member of the Chinese delegation who asked not to be named.
In his address, Liu said Taiwan and China should seek to promote Chinese culture and that the publishing industry was the best conduit to do so.
Liu, however, did not mention promoting Taiwan's culture and literature to China and the rest of the world.
In a speech, Government Information Office Chief Vanessa Shih (史亞平) urged the Chinese government to give Taiwanese publishing companies priority in reviewing applications for foreign investors as well as streamlining the application process to make it easier for Taiwanese publishing companies to do business in China.
Shih also advocated stronger bilateral cooperation on tackling intellectual property and copyright violations, saying that all publications, whether in print, digital, or audio-visual, must be given full respect.
Taiwan's experience in creating digital content, animation and video-games can greatly enhance related industries in China, she said.
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