On October 9, the symposium “Dialogue of Civilizations: Sino-German Cultural and Academic Publishing—History and New Perspectives” was held at the Casino Building on the Westend Campus of Goethe University Frankfurt. It was co-hosted by China National Publications Import and Export (Group) Corporation (CNPIEC) and the Confucius Institute Frankfurt.
The symposium “Dialogue of Civilizations: Sino-German Cultural and Academic Publishing—History and New Perspectives” takes place at Goethe University Frankfurt.
ZHAO Xin, President of Tsinghua University Press (TUP), attended the symposium as an invited guest. He was joined by a distinguished group of experts in sinology, translation, and academic publishing from China and Germany, including Professor Dr. Cord Eberspacher, Director of the Department of Sinology and Professor of History at the University of Bonn; Dr. YANG Zhiyi, Professor of Sinology at Goethe University Frankfurt; Karin Betz, a renowned German translator and recipient of the 17th Special Book Award of China; ANG Eng Guan, Managing Director (China) of Taylor & Francis Group; LI Tianming, Vice President of China Social Sciences Press; and CAI Hongjun, a translator of German literature and seasoned copyright agent. Together, the participants engaged in an in-depth discussion of new opportunities and pathways for Sino-German cooperation in academic publishing in the new era.
The symposium comprised three sessions: “Translation and Copyright,” “Publishing and Global Communication,” and “Sinology, China Studies, and Sino-German Dialogue.” Drawing on historical records, the practical experiences of translators, and the realities of the publishing industry, the participating experts examined from multiple perspectives the opportunities and challenges involved in bringing Chinese academic works to German-speaking audiences.
ZHAO delivered a speech titled “From Dialogue to Co-Creation: New Visions for the Global Development of Chinese Academic Publishing.” Drawing on TUP's collaborations with German academic publishers, he reviewed current developments in Chinese academic publishing, including its disciplinary breadth and growing international influence. He also highlighted TUP's ongoing efforts in digital transformation and international cooperation, and shared his perspectives on the future Sino-German academic publishing partnerships.
ZHAO noted that Sino-German cooperation in academic publishing already has a solid foundation for moving beyond dialogue toward deeper co-creation, emphasizing that Germany has a long-standing academic publishing tradition and a distinctive publishing system, with notable strengths and global influence in the natural sciences, engineering, and medicine, as well as in the humanities and social sciences. He further highlighted that Germany's rigorous editorial standards and mature academic peer-review system offer valuable lessons for Chinese academic publishers. China, for its part, has a vast and steadily growing body of scholarly research and continues to produce new achievements in emerging and interdisciplinary fields. In this context, he expressed the hope that scholars and editors from both countries could work more closely together on content acquisition and commissioning, producing high-quality academic works that bring together the wisdom of Chinese and international scholars while also helping to build a more diverse and inclusive international academic publishing ecosystem.
By tracing the history of Sino-German exchanges in culture and academic publishing and focusing on the priorities and possibilities of current cooperation, the symposium provided a valuable platform for in-depth dialogue between scholars, translators, and publishing professionals from both countries. It helped foster mutual learning and stronger cooperation in translation, academic publishing, and the global dissemination of scholarly knowledge.
