The Hong Kong Book Fair has long been a magnet for youngsters rushing to get the first copies of their pop idols' wordless pictorial releases and catch a glimpse of their favourite stars. And although the musings of Twins' Gillian Chung Yan-tung undoubtedly have their place, the fair is proving important as an international trading ground for Chinese-language books. The high turnout of overseas libraries and publishing houses seeking to replenish and supplement their stocks is giving the traditionally retail-oriented summer extravaganza a new twist.
This year, 207 executives from 15 organisations around the world, including such US institutions as the Queens Library, the University of California at Berkeley, the Melville Library at Stony Brook University and the Brooklyn Public Library, Malaysia's University Tunku Abdul Rahman plus libraries from the mainland and Macau, visited the fair to shop for the latest titles. Most were looking to boost their collections of Chinese-language books in particular.
Raymond Yip Chak-yan, assistant executive director of the Trade Development Council, organiser of the fair, said the importance of the Chinese language is growing around the world, creating a greater demand for Chinese-language books.
'The Chinese community around the world is growing because of new immigrants from not only Hong Kong but also mainland China. At the same time, more people are learning the Chinese language. Chinese-language books no longer just serve ethnic Chinese,' said Mr Yip.
'A lot of new titles are released during the Book Fair and because these libraries do not usually purchase in bulk, they do not get much of a discount even if they order from publishers directly. In fact, they get a better discount coming to the fair.'
There are book fairs around the world, including in Beijing and Taiwan, offering the trading of Chinese-language books and their copyrights. But one important quality that has made the Hong Kong event a big draw is the freedom of speech that allows virtually all sorts of books, on all sorts of subjects, to be found there.