International Book Fair closes in Belgrade

International Book Fair closes in Belgrade

BELGRADE -- The 59th International Book Fair ended on Sunday, when Chinese Ambassador Li Manchang presented with "an open book" his Russian counterpart Aleksandr Chepurin.

China was this year's country guest of honor, while Russia will have the same role next year.

City Secretary for Culture Vladan Vukosavljević opened the closing ceremony, thanking China for taking part in the fair and underlining that the presentation of the Chinese book offer gave new momentum to relations between the two countries.

Chairman of the Book Fair Committee Zoran Avramović said that this year's fair was very successful, as it managed to bring together 483 direct exhibitors - 406 domestic and 77 foreign ones.

Avramović said that the fair is not just a celebration of the book, but also a celebration of the friendship between the peoples of Serbia and China, adding that he is looking forward to Russia being the guest of honor of the 60th international book fair, as many generations in Serbia grew up reading Russian authors.

Thanking for the hospitality, Ambassador Li Manchang said that he is glad that his country presented its book offer at the Belgrade fair.

"We decided to further deepen the cooperation in the field of publishing. Despite the fact that we will not be the guest of honor next year, we will try to come to the next Belgrade fair with as many books as possible," the Chinese Ambassador said, speaking in fluent Serbian.

He underscored that for the eight days of the fair, 140 cooperation agreements were signed which illustrates the importance and influence of the Belgrade book fair in Europe and the world.

Russian Ambassador...