On the exhibition floor at China Shanghai International Book Fair 2024. Image: CCBF
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
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Shanghai’s Children’s International Book Fair 2024 Draws 41,263 Attendees
Shanghai’s 2024 Book Fair: Bright Stands, Busy Meetings
This Year Expecting 500 Exhibitors from 35 Countries
The 12th edition of the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF, November 14 to 16), directed by Donna Chai, has announced today (September 17) that its organizing team anticipates more than 500 exhibitors this year from at least 35 countries. That’s a figure expected to pass the 497 exhibitors on its 25,000-square-meter show floors in 2024 (269,097 square feet).
What’s more, the program tells members of the various news media that more than 50,000 visitors are expected to visit the cavernous Shanghai World Exhibition and Convention Center (SWEEECC) on Guozhan Road during the course of the event—a substantial gain over the 41,263 visitors of last year. Of those visitors, some 17,081 were publishing-industry professionals.
While annually attended by members of the public, the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair positions itself in the book business as what its leadership terms “a bridge between Eastern and Western children’s publishing, promoting Chinese original titles internationally and showcasing emerging talent from China and the Asia-Pacific region.”
Two Zones: ‘Copyright’ and ‘Hybrid’
A rights meeting on an exhibitor stand at the 2024 edition of the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair. Image: CCBF
In terms of its professional draw, its consistent groups of attendees include agents, rights directors, publishers, booksellers, illustrators, digital specialists and cross-media players. Translation rights trading is a major draw for many who make the Shanghai fair a yearly stop on their travel schedules.
This year, the show is to be divided into two main areas—a Copyright Zone and a Hybrid Zone.
- The Copyright Zone is of course the center of the rights-trading activities, with networking and meetings, an area open only to industry professionals.
- The Hybrid Zone, then, engages marketing, distribution, retail-channel development, promotion, and bookselling overall.
National stands are to be placed at the fair this year by Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Russia, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
Key Chinese publishers planning to be part of the program include China Education Publishing; Shanghai Century Publishing; CITIC Press; 21st Century Publishing; Jieli Publishing; Phoenix Juvenile; New Buds; and Hunan Juvenile & Children’s Publishing. There also are private publishers, among them Post Wave Kids; Little Bean; Lelequ; CheerFly Culture; and Jojo Reading.
And this year, a new “Cross Media Lounge” is to highlight international projects. Among those are:
- BookGorae from South Korea;
- Frontiers for Young Minds, of Switzerland;
- MakeMake Digital Library from Colombia; and
- Weltendecker of Germany.
The “BOP Lounge” is another themed setting featuring houses recognized by awards programs, including:
- Andersen Press of the United Kingdom;
- Barefoot Banana from Thailand;
- Enchanted Lion Books from the United States; and
- Fukuinkan Shoten of Japan.
And yet another themed grouping, the “Asia-Pacific New Entry Lounge” features:
- Difference Engine of Singapore;
- Jiaxuan Publishing of Malaysia;
- Pepper Dog Press from Singapore; and
- Sekaibunkasha Group in Japan.
And another highlight for 2025 is to be a “Spotlight on New Books”—potentially a driver in rights trading—designed to showcase latest titles and to feature book launches, author signings, and rights-purchasing sessions.
Registration and Travel Information
A professional program session at the 2024 China Shanghai International Book Fair. Image: CCBF
Publishing professionals in children’s publishing, education, entertainment, and associated fields are able to see the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair free of charge, including having access to the program’s online matchmaking system. More details are here, which includes a “2025 Professional Visitor Free Registration” area here.
In case you are thinking of making Shanghai a stop on your professional travels, it may be of interest that China offers visa-free entry now for 47 countries, according to the fair’s organizers, and a 240-hour transit visa-free policy for 55 countries.
The Shanghai fair, recognized by the Shanghai Press and Publication Administration, is organized by Shanghai Xinhua Distribution Group Co. Ltd., China Education Publishing and Media Group Ltd., and China Universal Press and Publication Co. Ltd. It’s co-organized by Ronbo BolognaFiere Shanghai Ltd., and supported by the BolognaFiere Group.
Traveling world publishing professionals who need to be in touch with the organizers are invited to contact them on ccbf@bfchina.net .
At Frankfurter Buchmesse (October 15 to 19), find Bologna Children’s Book Fair and its Bologna Book Plus and in Hall 5.0, at Stand B63.
More from Publishing Perspectives on the China 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, more on illustration in the book business is here, and more on children’s books is here.
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