HAIKOU,China,Sept. 22,2024 -- A report fromHainan International Media Center (HIMC):

On September 21,the 14th China International Digital Publishing Expo opened in Haikou,capital city of south China's Hainan Province. This year's Expo focuses on topics such as developing new quality productive forces in the publishing industry,creating high-quality digital publishing content,and promoting international cooperation in digital publishing.

Virginie Clayssen,chair of Syndicat national de l'édition Digital Commission,delivers a keynote speech at the main forum of the 14th China International Digital Publishing Expo held in China’s southern Hainan Province on September 21. (Photo: Wang Chengxian)

Including representatives from international professional organizations such as the Japan Book Publishers Association,Korea Creative Content Agency,and the French Syndicat national de l'édition,over 600 domestic and foreign guests met to share insights and discuss cooperation in digital publishing at the main forum.

In France,digitalization has breathed new life into old books. At the main forum,Virginie Clayssen,introduced their "Relier" project to digitize early 20th century French books with the goal of reviving over 96,000 out-of-print titles through technological means.

Arnout Jacobs,president of Springer Nature Greater China,believes that even with AI's rapid development,human participation will continue to play an important role in the publishing industry. "AI will not replace humans,but will only become a powerful assistant to humans,helping us to develop more efficiently and faster. In the process of digitalization of the publishing industry,we need to decide which technologies can be used and which should be abandoned,and select those technologies that can help us develop and benefit mankind."

As it is driven by waves of globalization,the development of digital publishing is bound to move in that direction. Seiichi Higuchi,general legal representative and executive director of the Japan Book Publishers Association,holds the view that the development of digitalization and the technological upgrading of distribution channels are not something that can be solved by a single country on its own. "We must have a clear understanding of the international situation,strengthen international cooperation on the basis of maintaining technical standards and legal coordination,and jointly explore our future direction."

In building an open digital economy innovation highland,Hainan has become a fertile ground for the digital publishing boom. "Hainan Publishing and Distribution Group is building a digital publishing and copyright trade incubation base that leverages the policy advantages of the safe and orderly flow of data in the free trade port to develop foreign digital cultural trade and promote cultural exports," said Wu Bin,chairman of Hainan Publishing and Distribution Group.

Over the three days of the Expo,its 30,000m² exhibition area will welcome over 500 publishing companies and cultural and technological enterprises with their new products and projects. It will also showcase new achievements and breakthroughs in international cooperation in digital publishing.

A report released by the China Academy of Press and Publication at the exhibition shows the overall scale of China's digital publishing industry reached over 1.6 trillion yuan ($0.23 trillion) in 2023,a year-on-year increase of 19.08%.