Featuring India as the Country of Honor, the 17th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) will run from Aug 30 to Sept 3 at China International Exhibition Center in Beijing.

As Asia's largest and one of the key book fairs worldwide, 2010 BIBF is to welcome 2,000 participants from 56 countries and areas, with the exhibition area covering 43,000 square meters.

Focusing on digital publishing and on introducing Chinese authors and publications to the rest of the world, 2010 BIBF is to surpass previous versions due to its international management team and traditional emphasis on copyright and exchanges among publishers, says Chen Yingming, vice director of foreign exchanges with BIBF organizer the General Administration of Press and Publication.

2010 BIBF will give a special presentation of the contemporary Chinese writers. This year the China Writers Association is one of the organizers of the fair, for the first time, and will bring more translated Chinese books and acclaimed writers to liven the book fair.

"An exhibition section is designed to show books translated for the international market, providing a shortcut for interested foreign publishers to locate the books they're searching for," Chen says.

"BIBF is a bridge to see China, as the country and its writers are gaining more international claim. Indian publishers are eager to know what the Chinese are reading and the writers are composing," says K. Nagaraj Naidu, first secretary with the Indian Embassy.

As in previous years, a forum about the publishing industry is to open on Aug 29. The forum is themed International Cooperation on Publishing and Opportunities on Chinese Book Market, followed by three subsidiary forums on popular books, children's books, and technological/educational books.

Visit http://www.bibf.net/