Friday, September 12, 2014

2015: The Year of the Sheep - Scroll to the bottom - lots of pics!

BEA will welcome China as the featured country and Guest of Honor for the 2015 Global Market Forum Program.  2015 also is the year of the Sheep in Chinese astrology.  The Sheep is a symbol of Peace, Harmonious co-existence and Tranquility. The Sheep is fittingly the symbol of the Arts.  

The year of the Sheep provides inspiring and positive characteristics that align with our vision for the 2015 GMF.  Planning is reaching full tilt for what will be an extraordinary event.  There has never been anything like what is being planned by the Chinese that has happened previously in the US.  The 2015 GMF will create scores of mutually beneficial business opportunities while opening the door to Chinese culture: bringing more than 100 publishers, 500 publishing professionals and 100+ of the leading Chinese writers.

The purpose and intent of BEA's Global Market Forum is to foster exchange that benefits the country of honor in equal measures with the traditional stakeholders of BEA.  In preparation BEA organized a professional delegation that traveled to the recent Beijing International Book Fair.  The AAP International Committee and the ABA were instrumental in their assistance.  There were editors from Princeton, MIT and John Hopkins University Press along with current ABA President Steve Bercu.  We were hosted by the China National Publications Import and Export (Group) Corporation - better known as CNPIEC, who created a robust schedule for our delegation to get acquainted with the opportunities at BIBF, to gain an understanding of the publishing landscape in China and create opportunities to connect directly with Chinese publishers.  Summarizing some of the results:

  • The BIBF Publishing Forum shed light on Chinese government policy with regard to publishing and provided insights from senior publishing leaders  (CUPP, Elsevier) who shared their extensive experience in China 
  • Meetings at BIBF with Chinese publishers established direct contacts for potential rights sales 
  • Invaluable and meaningful connections with key staff of CNPIEC. 
  • CNPIEC also provided unique and unvarnished insights in understanding the Chinese institutional market that would have taken years and multiple trips to glean without the benefit of this delegation. 
BEA and our many partners will look forward to providing a platform that will offer unique opportunities for investment, partnerships and access to one the leading and fastest growing markets in the world.  More importantly there will be the rare opportunity to access and learn about a culture that is a half a world away but increasingly close ties local market and our own backyard.

Thanks to Steve Bercu, I can share some great photos from our trip to Beijing International Book Fair.  

The US Delegation and our hosts from CNPIEC
Sights at BIBF 
  This is what dinner looked like on most nights and it was fantastic!
 Dinner with CNPIEC
 Ginger Miller absorbing some local culture
 Sights from a local neighborhood


 The Great Hall of the People
 Mr. Bercu looking great!

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