The Beijing International Book Fair has appointed Chinese novelist and laureate of the Mao Dun Literature Prize, the most prestigious literature award in the country, Liu Zhenyun as its first "reading ambassador."

The fair is a window to Chinese writing and publishing and now attracts over 2,400 publishers from more than 80 countries. It functions as an influential platform for the copyright trade and publishing, and a place where Chinese books are introduced to the international market. 

Lin Liying, the Deputy General Manager of the China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corporation and one of the fair's organizers, called Liu "an old friend and a perfect choice".

Liu will be involved in multiple reading promotional events in the next five years. 

"The Chinese are avid readers, and they are even writing more," Liu said. "It is just that the way they do it has changed. They are now writing using WeChat updates and the like." 

After a 20-day trip to seven European countries including the Netherlands, Italy, France and Germany, Chinese author Liu Zhenyun returned to China on Tuesday.

During his trip, the novelist observed obvious changes in Western readers' perspectives about Chinese literature. 

"Twenty years ago, their interest was only confined to works on Chinese society and politics, which misled a bunch of Chinese writers to go for shortcuts and seek to be opportunists, and thus China became a strange country through their pens," Liu noted. 

"But now, Western audiences care more about the depth of life represented in Chinese literature," he adds. 

Liu shared how European readers he met analyzed his translated novel, I Did Not Kill My Husband, which tells the story of a rural woman, Li Xuelian, reclaiming her reputation after being wrongly judged by her husband. 

"The French readers say they are impressed by Li, who spends twenty years trying to right a wrong," Liu said. 

The introduction of more Chinese books by top writers to overseas readers has made the change, he noted.

As a figure of Chinese contemporary literature, Liu has won several awards both at home and abroad. His novels have been translated into over twenty languages, and several of them have been adapted into films such as I Am Not Madame Bovary, Cell Phone, and Back to 19‍42. ‍

(With reporting elements from China Daily)