People visit the 2025 Shanghai Book Fair on August 13, 2025. Photo: Chen Xia/GT

To mark the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War, a number of new books themed around the war-time history were unveiled at the 2025 Shanghai Book Fair, which kicked off on Wednesday.

Open till August 19, the fair is both a grand book retail event and a cultural carnival. Centered on readers, it further breaks spatial boundaries, bringing reading into everyday life and making visits to the fair more casual, observers said. 

This year, the book fair, for the first time, featured "dual main venues" - the Shanghai Exhibition Center and Shanghai Book City - and launched a night fair for reading. The number of reading events reached 1,267, up 23.8 percent from 2024, marking a record high. 

Zhao Yaqiang, a representative from the World Publishing Corporation, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the Shanghai Book Fair is a microcosm of the national retail book market. 

"Different from the Beijing International Book Fair, which mainly focuses on copyright exchange and communication, the Shanghai Book Fair has been retail-oriented from the very beginning, with its influence expanding year-on-year. With strong purchasing power in Shanghai and the addition of the new night fair this year, one of its highlights is the surge of enthusiasm among readers coming to buy books," said Zhao at the fair. 

Another major highlight is the wide variety of cultural and creative products. 

This year's book fair has set up a dedicated section for such products, reflecting readers' love for books and related cultural items. Major publishing houses have scrambled to develop book-themed cultural and creative products, catering to the diverse needs of readers, Zhao noted. 

The fair enjoys a high level of public participation. It is not only a book exhibition, but also a cultural carnival for all. From silver-haired senior citizens to young students, the fair caters to diverse interests and literary pleasures, said Liu Qingsong, president of Liaohai Publishing House. 

In 2024, the book fair attracted 298,000 visits to its main venue over the seven-day event, generating total offline book sales worth over 48 million yuan, with nearly 5 million yuan in revenue from cultural and creative products.

Stories of valor

Going to China, a novel based on the true story of two Austrian doctors who fled Vienna to escape Nazi persecution with the help of a Chinese diplomat, joining the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in China soon after, made its debut at the fair, Wang Yu, a CITIC Press Group staffer, told the Global Times.

Based on the true stories of Austrian refugee doctors, who fought alongside the Chinese people during the War of Resistance, the novel recounts the arduous struggle and tremendous sacrifices made by the Chinese people in the fight against fascism, highlighting China's cohesion and significant role in World War II, according to Wang. 

Meanwhile, people queued up at a launch ceremony for the signings of a set of comic books jointly released by five domestic publishers for the first time, to commemorate the victory in the War of Resistance. The set of books offer readers fresh insights into war-time history for young readers. 

Besides, a book chronicling the history of the anti-Japanese war in Shanghai hit the shelves at the fair. The city of Shanghai held a special and important place in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and even in the World Anti-Fascist War, serving as a major battlefield of the resistance.

Xiong Jie, a staff member with the Shanghai People's Press, told the Global Times that the three-volume book draws on detailed historical materials to present, from multiple perspectives and in a comprehensive manner, the full course of Shanghai's anti-Japanese struggle from 1931 to 1945. 

According to Xiong, the book recreates the magnificent history of the Chinese military and civilians in this heroic city, who stood firm and fought tenaciously against Japanese aggression, serving as a good literary source for the people wishing to understand and carry forward the great spirit of the War of Resistance.

A man reads a book at the 2025 Shanghai Book Fair on August 13, 2025. Photo: Chen Xia/GT

People-centered 

The most groundbreaking initiative at this year's book fair has undoubtedly been the first-time adoption of a "dual main venue" model. 

The Shanghai Exhibition Center brings together the latest works from top domestic and international publishers, as well as rare ancient texts, while the Shanghai Book City is an essential part of everyday reading life for residents. The book city requires no tickets, inviting readers to participate in exhibitions, reading salons and VR experience zones.

If the "dual main venue" expands the fair's spatial dimension, then the newly launched night fair held every evening at the Shanghai Exhibition Center represents a vibrant and romantic breakthrough in the temporal dimension. 

It extends the fair's energy into the night, creating a "nighttime literary wonderland" that combines reading, leisure, entertainment and social interaction.

"Nowadays, we need even more people to visit book fairs and touch real books, because they help us regain a forgotten ability: To focus, reflect, and immerse ourselves," Deng Jianguo, a professor at Fudan University, told the Jiefang Daily. 

The sense of collective participation reinforces individual reading habits - just as children, year after year, accompany their parents to the fair, their anticipation of this "cultural festival" gradually grows into a lasting source of strength in their memories, Deng said.