The 27th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) will be held in a digital format for the first time in history on September 26.

"More than 1,000 exhibitors from 68 countries and regions have completed online registration and uploaded 23,000 copyrighted books," said Lin Liying, deputy general manager of the China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corporation (CNPIEC), the organizer of BIBF.

"Among them, 97 are new exhibitors, and 29 exhibitors are from countries and regions along the Belt and Road. And countries like Uruguay, Cape Verde and Armenia will participate for the first time," she said, adding that about 400,000 books will be exhibited at the fair.

The fair will provide all-weather online promotion, trade negotiation and other services for domestic and overseas publishers. It will also use 5G, virtual reality, augmented reality and other technologies to display exhibitions and seminars in a panoramic way.

Cuba, this year's guest of honor, will host a series of events on the digital platform, such as cultural exhibition, art exhibition, copyrighted books exhibition and reading event, to promote cultural exchange and copyright trade between China and Cuba.

(Cover image: A file photo of Beijing International Book Fair. /CFP)