KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 (NNN-BERNAMA) – The opening ceremony for a series of events by China, as the guest of honour on the 40th Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair (KLIBF) was held here yesterday.
Malaysian Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Zhang Jianchun, Malaysian Minister of Education, Fadhlina Sidek and Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, Ouyang Yujing, attended the event at the World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
Anwar, accompanied by Zhang, visited the exhibition area of China, as the guest of honour. The Malay edition of “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China”, and that of a collection of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s selected articles, as well as, a comprehensive collection of ancient Chinese paintings were introduced to the prime minister.
This is the first time that China is invited as a guest of honour, to participate in ASEAN countries’ international book fairs. About 10,000 books are on display, including those on China’s development achievements, during the past decade of the new era, and on China’s traditional culture, as well as, the multilingual versions of Chinese classic books, co-published by publishing houses in China and ASEAN countries.
More than 150 representatives from over 30 publishing institutions of China participated in the book fair, during which China and Malaysia will host more than 30 cultural exchange activities. Chinese writers, including Liu Zhenyun, and scholars, including Kang Zhen, are in attendance at the book fair.
Also yesterday, the China-ASEAN Forum on Cultural Exchanges and Cooperation was held.
The forum, themed “New Opportunities in China-ASEAN Civilisation Communication and Cooperation” was attended by more than 300 people, including officials, renowned writers, scholars and publishers from both China and Malaysia.
The KLIBF, an important cultural fest in Malaysia, was launched in 1981. This year’s fair opened on Friday and will last for 10 days.– NNN-BERNAMA