The trade visitor entrance at the 2017 Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair. Image: CCBF
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
360 Exhibitors from 51 Markets in 2017
On December 19 Reed Exhibitions Greater China confirmed that it’s ending its five-year management of the annual Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF). As reported by Publishers Weekly, BolognaFiere, the organizer of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, will co-organize the Shanghai fair with “a group of organizations” in China.
In 2017, the Shanghai Book Fair hosted 360 exhibitors from 51 countries and regions, administrators say, and those figures were up from 154 exhibitors and 15 countries and regions in 2013, when the fair was inaugurated.
Elements of Reed Exhibitions, of course, are also managers of London Book Fair and BookExpo with ReedPOP’s BookCon in New York City.
In a prepared statement, Lanny Zhang, vice president for Reed Exhibitions China, is quoted, saying, “We would like to thank our partners, exhibitors, and visitors alike for the support they have given to CCBF.
“The fair has become enormously successful and has more than doubled the number of exhibitors—and seen a five-fold increase in the number of visitors—in its five years of life. More importantly, it has been responsible for helping to develop and grow children’s reading and the book market in China. We can indeed be hugely proud of this legacy. However, the time has come to recognize our success and move on.”
In further commentary provided to Publishing Perspectives, we’re told, “Reed Exhibitions is now actively involved in the economic development of different regions in China and across a variety range of industries. The company would like to further its collaboration with government departments and trade associations in China, and develop more high-quality trade exhibition platforms across different sectors.”
And a final comment from Zhang: “CCBF has focused on encouraging parent-child reading, introducing new books and authors, and promoting copyright transactions and the international exchange of good books. It has become a powerful force in intellectual property protection and children’s education. We wish it every success.”
Even as this transition goes forward, of course, tradition holds in other parts of China, as in Shenzhen’s annual Reading Forum, a month-long series of events that includes the naming of a Shenzhen Top 10 collection of books for children. Here is our report on Shenzhen’s 2017 selections.