Organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) until 5 May at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), the 33^rd Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF 2024) welcomes the People’s Republic of China’s largest and most prestigious participation in any book fair around the world.

Celebrating its cultural industries and intangible cultural heritage, China – the third-largest country in the world by area – brings the essence of the nation from six provinces to the heart of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Across its 465-square-metre pavilion at the Fair, China is participating with 70 guests, including publishers, writers, translators, and officials representing 80 Chinese publishing houses.  The delegation is led by His Excellency Du Zhanyuan, President of China International Communications Group (CICG), and will be presenting the country’s fascinating history in addition to shedding light on current projects, underlining China’s efforts to build a thriving cultural ecosystem and establish active ties with the peoples of the Arab world.

The China International Communications Group tops the list of participating entities, along with the Foreign Language Press, China Educational Publications Import and Export Corporation, Beit Al Hikmah Cultural Group, and others, including publishing houses, academic, and official institutions.

The Cultural Programme will feature renowned Chinese writer Sun Rui, author of Waiting in the Rye, along with the heads of 10 Chinese publishing houses. Twenty books, one by Chinese President Xi Jinping titled ‘The Belt and Road Initiative’, will be available to Arab readers for the first time in Arabic.

This year’s ADIBF is set to strengthen Emirati-Chinese relations through a number of events, including the Chinese Language Talent Competition in UAE Schools, organised in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy. Additionally, the ALC and China International Communications Group will collaborate to launch the Arab-Chinese Platform for Publishing and Culture, which will see the participation of 10 Arab and 10 Chinese publishing houses, aiming to encourage and support translation from Chinese to Arabic.

China’s rapid technological development will be showcased at a seminar on artificial intelligence (AI), which focuses on the latest publishing technologies that China has implemented and presented them for the first time to an international audience. This will bring the total number of Chinese events at the exhibition to 15, spanning a variety of professional, artistic, and cultural domains.

Bilateral relations between the UAE and China have been flourishing since the establishment of the first Chinese embassy in Abu Dhabi in 1985. These years were marked by growing cultural, media, and intellectual relations, including the hosting of China as the Guest of Honour at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair in 2017, as well as trade partnerships, which were strengthened by the visit of H.E. Chinese President Xi Jinping to the UAE in 2018, during which he signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement.