'Book-sellers design their booths to attract the public. Publishers have separate rooms in which to make their deals - the other function of any book fair. So what's the sense in having the booths lying idle for the first two days? Opening the fair to the public from the start is the logical strategy.'

As head of the Cite Publishing Group, Jan is a driving force behind Taiwan's flourishing publishing industry. With 2,000 booths for local and international firms, TIBE is the major showcase for the island's 9,000 publishers. He estimates that 43,000 new titles are published in Taiwan each year.

'Do you realise that Japanese publishers sell more book copyrights here in Taipei than they do at their own book fair in Tokyo?' he says.

Hans-Michael Fenderl, who came to Taipei to represent Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest in the world, described TIBE as one of the major book exhibitions.

'It's also one of the most interesting,' he says. 'A lot of trading in copyright goes on here and, of course, there's an enormous amount of book-selling - too much, in my opinion. The book-sellers, after all, have to make a living during the rest of the year.

'We are making a lot of copyright agreements for translations of German books in China. Last year, it was double what we sold to the whole English-speaking world.'

Jan denied TIBE - which is expected to attract more than 300,000 people before it ends tomorrow - hurts local booksellers. The total turnover of Taiwan's publishing industry is about US$2 billion annually, he says. Book sales at the fair account for about one per cent of that figure.

Philippe Muyl, director and scriptwriter of the French comedy film Le Papillon, was introducing the movie's child star to a delighted audience.

'We've just come from Tokyo,' he says. 'I prefer Taiwan. The Chinese are so much warmer.'

But what had a film to do with books? The question is irrelevant at TIBE. One stand sells computer printers, another has 3-D software, while a third uses live snails to showcase comics.

Famous Taiwan cartoonist Au Yo-Shang drew an elaborate sketch in every book presented to him, while dozens more fans waited in line.

This year's focus is on book illustration, with a special exhibition of artwork by Italian artists. Roberta Cantone, a product designer from Milan, says Italians read less than Taiwanese people.

'There's a much greater interest in books among young people here than there is at home. I'm impressed by the enthusiasm, too. We were questioned for almost an hour after our lecture.'