Beijing International Book Fair 2019 highlights 5G technology
Updated 21:20, 26-Aug-2019
By Zhang Ke, Yang Ran
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01:43

The 26th Beijing International Book Fair, attracting thousands of industry professionals and readers, wrapped up on Sunday. This year's event was the largest-ever in Beijing book fair history. And, one of the buzzword's is 5G technology.

The impact of 5G technology, which is steadily expanding into ever greater areas of people's lives, is even beginning to be felt in the publishing industry. The fair explored this theme of technology and its convergence with publishing.

"The key word for this year's book fair is convergence. Convergence with new technologies like 5G and convergence between different industries. It's more than just a platform for publishing houses shaking hands and making deals. Here at BIBF content providers, traditional publishers and distributors will have plenty of opportunity to explore new business models, channels and technologies," said Lin Liying, director of 2019 Beijing International Book Fair. 

For the first time in its history, the fair set a special zone devoted to "5G-plus reading." 

A reader is looking at a magazine at the 26th Beijing International Book Fair. /VCG Photo

A reader is looking at a magazine at the 26th Beijing International Book Fair. /VCG Photo

Here visitors experienced new technologies such as virtual immersion reading, discovered more details within a book using interactive technology and more.

This year also saw an increased number of exhibitors taking part in the fair, with overseas exhibitors accounting for sixty percent. And some overseas publishers showcased books about China.

Copyright is one of the most important areas of business; copyright-related trade between China and foreign countries has maintained a high average annual growth of 20 percent since 2014.

The fair also includes events such as forums on publishing books for children and meetings for Belt and Road publishers to share ideas on the developing industry.