A reader picks up a Chinese book in English edition at the 2026 London Book Fair. Photo: Courtesy of the Phoenix Publishing and Media Group

In China's exhibition area of the 2026 London Book Fair, many visitors lingered at a table featuring renowned Chinese tea brands. Some local readers, with coffee cups in hand, accepted a cup of Chinese tea offered by staff members, savoring its flavor, others picked up a book on Chinese tea culture for a closer look.

Editor Ruan Ruixue, who was present at the fair, said she could sense a distinct enthusiasm for these cultural exchanges. Throughout the event, the spotlight on traditional Chinese culture and culturally distinctive books extended far beyond just one corner of the exhibition hall.

The 2026 London Book Fair was held from Tuesday to Thursday, attracting nearly 1,000 exhibitors and over 30,000 professionals from more than 90 countries and regions. According to the People's Daily, the Chinese publishing delegation showcased more than 4,000 types of books and over 5,500 copies at this year's fair.

Ruan, editor director of the Phoenix Science Press, told the Global Times that this year their team organized several book promotion activities centered on Chinese tea culture, exhibiting traditional culture titles such as The Classic of Tea. These have drawn significant interest and engagement of on-site readers. Ruan also noted that at each year's fair, books, cultural products, and activities themed around the traditional Chinese culture consistently enjoyed a warm reception from international audiences.

History and culture stood at the core of these offerings, but Chinese literary works were equally eye-catching. One highlight was a special exhibition dedicated to famous novelist Mai Jia, featuring multilingual versions of his works and their journey through international publishing. New works by masters, literary classics, and nonfiction books from the People's Literature Publishing House also attracted significant attention and inquiries from visitors.

This London Book Fair took place right before the launch of China's first national reading week, a major event promoting reading culture nationwide. Zhang Peng, an associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, told the Global Times that the experience gained by Chinese publishers through direct exchanges with their international counterparts is sure to help promote reading on a larger scale at home. The fair provides insights into not just delivering quality content, but also into lowering the barriers to reading through multimedia integration, enabling literary classics to reach a wider audience.

Focusing on traditional culture

"Traditional Chinese culture is the core component of our international publishing efforts and serves as a crucial bridge for deep dialogue with the global publishing community," Zhang Li, director of the New Knowledge and Culture Publishing Center at Yilin Press, told the Global Times.

At this year's London Book Fair, Yilin Press and India's Motilal Banarsidass jointly held a signing ceremony for the Hindi edition of Yujian Gugong: Guobao Yuqi Lide Zhonghua (or Jade: A Window into Chinese Civilization from the Palace Museum). This book, which explores the rich heritage of Chinese jade culture, will be translated into Hindi to allow more Indian readers to understand the deep connections embedded in Chinese jade traditions, Zhang introduced.

Using the lineage of jade artifacts at the Palace Museum as a narrative thread, the book outlines the development of Chinese jade culture. Yang Yudan, senior international copyright manager at Yilin Press, commented that the approach of having "Palace Museum insiders tell stories about the Palace Museum" exemplifies the effective way to "tell China's story well."

"Telling compelling stories is the foundation for cultural outreach," Yang said. "As we learned at the China-UK publishing exchange meetings, the biggest takeaway is that telling a good story is the most basic and essential step for cultural exchange. Foreign publishers are looking not just for 'Chinese characteristics,' but above all for good stories with Chinese characteristics."

Whether books are about tea culture or jade culture, the design and binding of traditional cultural titles at the book fair were all carefully crafted. Ruan noted that an appreciation for beauty is a universal human trait. The aesthetics of book design are a form of artistic practice and expression in themselves, enabling overseas readers to be drawn to beautifully made books. This opens the door for them to delving deeper into the content, sparking their interest in traditional Chinese culture.

Visitors explore the 2026 London Book Fair at the Olympia London exhibition space in London, the UK, on March 10, 2026. Photo: VCG

Crossing borders

At the fair, a special global exhibition titled Mai Jia: A Landmark Year for a Modern Chinese Master, was on display. Featuring a range of multilingual editions of Mai Jia's works, the exhibition attracted the attention of many international publishers.

Ka Bradley, editor of the Penguin Classics, said at the event, "We are delighted to welcome Mai Jia to the Penguin Modern Classics collection. Decoded and In the Dark are exemplary works of fiction, masterfully blending taut, suspenseful storytelling with profound literary connotations."

At the event, publishing representatives from Penguin Random House and Head of Zeus, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), the UK publishers of Mai's works, engaged in in-depth exchanges with a number of international literary agents, publishers and translators on the international communication journey, literary value and market performance of Mai's works.

The English version of Nehe Wangshi (The Past of Nehe), a nonfiction work released by the People's Literature Publishing House, also had its official contract signing at the London Book Fair. After the signing, the book's author Huang Rong discussed his writing process in detail with British readers and translators present at the event, sharing his creative experiences and insights.

Industry insiders present at the fair pointed out that as more works by Chinese writers enter the global publishing ecosystem, Chinese literature is taking part in global cultural exchanges in increasingly diverse and meaningful ways, according to the China National Publications Import and Export (Group) Co, Ltd.