SHANGHAI, November 16. /Corr. Andrey Popov/. Children in Russia and China receive educational literature and novels with equally great interest. This opinion was expressed by experts in a conversation with the sidelines of the Shanghai International Children's Book Fair.
“Publishers from Russia and China note that the content awareness and interests of children in both countries are quite similar. Based on the contracts signed within the framework of our projects, we can note a common interest in educational books,” said Svetlana Bogatyreva, head of the publishing department of the Moscow Creative Industries Agency. “These are books steeped in scientific discoveries, adventures, history and cultural traditions.”
According to her, the capital's bookstores are participating in the Shanghai fair for the third year in a row with the support of the Moscow Creative Industry Agency. This time, 10 publishers and 2 literary agencies from Moscow brought more than 450 works by domestic authors to the fair, including more than 100 new books for the Chinese market.
Bogatyreva noted that Russian book artists consistently receive top marks from the professional community at the Shanghai exhibition. “It is great to see that every year our illustrators are among the finalists of the Golden Pinwheel competition. Young illustrators from all over the world compete in this competition, about 50 finalists are selected, usually including at least five Russian illustrators,” she said.
Representatives of the Moscow Creative Industry Agency emphasized the importance of participating in the Shanghai fair for Russian publishers. “We see that the geography of participating countries is expanding, not only Chinese partners but also publishers from other countries come to the meeting and their number is growing every year,” said Bogatyreva. She added that domestic publishers are looking for new partners abroad thanks to participation in the “Publishing Season” program of the Moscow Creative Industry Agency – Russian companies are invited to participate in international exhibitions in the Russian Federation and friendly countries.
Development director of the publishing house “Nastya and Nikita” Helga Pataki told that she held dozens of business meetings on the sidelines of the fair with potential partners from China and other countries, especially from Italy, Singapore, the US and Sri Lanka. According to her, Russian children's books attract Chinese publishers because of the “golden idea” between form and content. She points out that in Western book publishing, images dominate, while in East Asian publishing, text dominates. “When Chinese publishers see our books, they say they are more interested in Russian products, because Western books have many pictures and little text, while our books have more knowledge and meaning,” Pataki emphasized.
About the fair
The 12th Shanghai International Children's Book Fair takes place from November 14 to 16, 2025. This is the largest exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region dedicated to children's book publishing. This year, about 500 exhibitors from 35 countries and regions participated. Visitors can get acquainted with more than 20 thousand of the latest children's books from China and other countries.
The Moscow delegation at the children's fair in Shanghai included 12 leading publishing houses of the capital: “40 Books”, “Bubble”, “Clever”, “Mozaika Kids”, “Abrikobuks”, “White Crow”, “CompassGuide”, “Nastya and Nikita”, “Step into history”, “Samokat” and literary agencies “Genya aGency” and “Wimbo”.
