Shanghai gets set to be the guest city at this year's Paris Book Fair. A delegation of 17 authors from the Chinese city will be at the event, which opens on March 21st. And special editions of some of China's best-known works of literature will be available to French readers.
This series of comic books has been translated into French for the fair. They are based on one of China's most famous historical novels "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". They tell the expansive story of feudal warlords and their retainers at the end of the Han Dynasty.
Hundreds of other Chinese works will also be on display at the fair, and city officials say they hope that will help the French better understand China.
"In general, I think Chinese people know France much better than the French people know China. Likewise, the Shanghainese know Paris much better than the Parisians know Shanghai," said Xu Jiong, director at Shanghai Press and Publication Administration.
Besides French books, Shanghai publishers will also display a slew of books in English including a 80-volume transcript from the International Military Tribunal for the Far East - the war crime trials for the leaders of Japan following World War II.
As the guest city at the fair, Shanghai also plans to hold a number of activities to promote the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between France and China.