Representatives in the publishing industries in Taiwan and China said they expected both sides would conduct more frequent bilateral exchanges to increase readership and jointly work on producing quality Chinese-language publications.
Lee Ho, head of Taiwan’s Planter Press Co, said he expected the government to further boost cross-strait exchanges in the publishing industry, such as by reducing taxes on Taiwanese books exported to China.
Such a move would help increase the competitiveness of Taiwanese books in China, Lee said, saying the price of a Taiwanese book is usually twice as high as books published in China.
Citing about 20 years of cross-strait cooperation in the publishing area via copyright purchases, visits by publishing representatives and participation in each other’s book fairs, Lee said it was time for the government to “take further actions.”
“Our ultimate goal is to expand the market for Taiwanese quality publications,” he said on the sidelines of the Taipei International Book Exhibition.
The annual fair, one of the largest in Asia, began on Wednesday and finishes today.
Lee said that Taiwan’s strength was in producing books with attractive designs and in its leadership in anticipating market demand.
At the exhibition’s opening ceremony, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said Taiwan and China should strengthen their publishing ties.
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