Bologna and Shanghai Children's Book Fairs: Collaboration

‘Dedicated to the trade in rights and the promotion of content for children,’ Shanghai’s fair stresses its Italian Bologna collaboration.

At the February Chinese New Year lantern festival in Shanghai. Image – Getty: Yanjf

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

Some 450 Exhibitors Expected in Shanghai

In its media messaging being released for next week’s opening, the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (November 15 to 17) is positioning itself as ”
the only professional publishing fair dedicated to the trade in rights and the promotion of content for children and young people in the Asia Pacific area.”

And, as Publishing Perspectives readers already know, the Shanghai fair—directed by Donna Chai as a public-facing fair with a professional program—is actually a close collaboration with Elena Pasoli‘s Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF, March 31 to April 3). Both the main Bologna fair and Jacks Thomas‘ Bologna Book Plus programming are a part of what’s seen at Shanghai, and the Italian co-organizing connection has been in place since 2018.

Today (November 7), here are some numbers about the growth trajectory of this Mainland Chinese fair.

Shanghai reports an 192-percent increase in the number of exhibitors since its inaugural outing in 2013
That percentage growth comes from totals of 154 exhibitors in 2013 and 450 now slated for later this month, the fair’s 11th outing
Since the Bologna contingent became co-organizer five years ago, exhibitors have increased by 22 percent, from 367 in 2018 to the 450 expected this year
The gains in international exhibitors are even more impressive, having doubled in that first year, 2018, from 66 the previous year to 132 in 2018
Next week, it’s expected that 180 international exhibitors from 32 countries will be onboard
You’ll find the international exhibitors in a space of some 25,000 square meters (269,000 square feet)
Last year, as many as 42,733 visitors were counted accessing this large international exhibitors’ space—a jump of 26 percent over the visitors’ number in 2018 (33,796)

Pasoli: ‘BCBF’s Role Is Crucial in This Dialogue and Trade’

Meetings among international and Chinese publishers at the 2023 China Shanghai Children’s Book Fair. Image: CCBF

Clearly, the Italian connection is working well to grow the Shanghai fair, as the trusted brands of Bologna converge to bolster the Shanghai offerings and to draw international interests along with them.

And it’s this expertise-across-the-water approach that prompts the program to call the Shanghai show “a strategic showcase for those seeking to seize the opportunities of the Asian market.”

Elena Pasoli

Pasoli, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair director, says, “Despite the fact that the Chinese publishing market is facing challenging times, I see that the mutual interest in dialogue and interaction between the international children’s book industry and the Chinese scenario is lively and growing.

“We saw it in Bologna last April, where Chinese participation was at an all-time high, and we see it now in Shanghai, where international participation has reached excellent levels, both in terms of numbers and in the representation of different countries.

“I don’t think I’m being presumptuous when I say that BCBF’s role is crucial in this continuous expansion of dialogue and trade.”

The Shanghai show, called CCBF, is endorsed by the Shanghai Press & Publication Administration, and organized by Shanghai Xinhua Distribution Group, China Education Publishing & Media Group, and China Universal Press & Publication, co-organized by Ronbo BolognaFiere Shanghai and promoted by BolognaFiere Group.

A look at programming for the upcoming Shanghai show is here, and we’ll have more on the Shanghai-Bologna plans and programming both in advance of the fair and from the event itself.

More from Publishing Perspectives on the Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair is here. More from us on China’s market is here, our closely followed China Bestsellers series produced in association with Beijing OpenBook is here, and more on children’s books is here.

About the Author

Porter Anderson

Porter Anderson has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (Fellow, National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.