An initiative dating back to 2013, encouraging the translation of Chinese books into Arabic for Arab audiences, is proving a real success as book sales rocket.
Any best selling novel in China is translated into Arabic and available on bookshelves within 8 months.
That is thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2013.
The Belt and Road initiative is a development campaign through which China wants to boost trade and stimulate economic growth across Asia and beyond.
It hopes to do so by building massive amounts of infrastructure connecting it to countries around the globe. China plans to invest $150bn into such projects each year.
As part of the economic project comes translation and cultural relations. One company that has benefited from the activity is Wisdom House Cultural Investment, a book publishing firm.
In an article on China Daily the co-founder of the company Ahmed Al-Saeed explains how the demand for Chinese-to-Arabic translation has increased.
“Books about the Belt and Road Initiative sell well, because many people in Arab countries want to understand more about the initiative and what it could bring to them. They want to learn more about China’s policies, so as to better cooperate with China.
“So, we’ve invited 51 Sinologists and scholars to translate books. They understand Chinese culture very well and could use their native language to make the translations better accepted by readers in Arab countries.”
Zhang Shirong, another co-founder of Wisdom House, states that ever since the Belt and Road Initiative was launched in 2013, business has been booming year on year as the demand for Chinese to Arabic translation increases.
“Previously, our business was very small. In 2013, our revenue was only about 3 million yuan ($441,000),” he said. “But in 2014, it soared to 10 million yuan. Later, the annual growth has been about 150 percent.”
Good times ahead it seems for those looking for Arabic content from China!
