Chinese publishers have strong presence at the world's major book events, such as the London Book Fair in 2014. [Photo/VCG]

The press has been promoting Cao and his works to a wider audience since the Bologna Book Fair in Italy in 2013.

He Zhiyong, who leads the Sichuan-based Xinhua Winshare Publishing and Media Co, believes the Belt and Road Initiative also offers an opportunity to reach out to a wider market.

His company has found success in developing partnerships with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative with regard to the novel Nirvana in Fire, which became a hit in Thailand earlier this year, following the phenomenal success of its TV adaptation, says He.

"About 70 percent of our copyright sales are in those countries. We see the prospect of going global in this way because it is in tune with the country's strategy," says He.

Li Zhihui, an official with the CBI office, says the project was originally intended to balance the copyright trade deficit between China and other countries.

"But as it evolved, the project became inspirational and has shifted the interest of domestic publishers from the copyright trade to intellectual-property cooperation and even overseas investments," says Li Zhihui.

According to Wu Shangzhi, vice-minister of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, who attended the CBI conference, the country in 2010 on average bought three copyright titles for every one that it sold, but the ratio improved to 1.6-to-1 in 2015.

"Besides, China sold $5 billion worth of digital products－online games and journals among others－overseas in 2015, compared with $230 million in 2010," says Wu.

Chen Pengming, deputy editor-in-chief of People's Publishing House, says that the focus of publishing houses has shifted from strengthening the copyright trade to overseas marketing.

"We're planning a series of roadshows in five cities in the English-speaking world to promote our Chinese Stories series that will be launched this year," says Chen.

To Chen's delight, The CPC: A History of Party Building, 1921-2015, a title from the series of 10 books on China's contemporary social and political history, has already grabbed the attention of its British partner.

Chinese publishers have in the past decade invested in or set up more than 450 branches in 50 countries, says Cui.

For instance, Xinhua Winshare established a website in New Zealand in October 2015 and is working on setting up an Australian one.

"We're hoping that readers in the two countries can get hold of newly published Chinese books quickly," says He.

Cui says: "We're trying to meet an unprecedented demand from people eager to understand China as the country develops and its international status grows."

She says that as plans to take Chinese culture global are increasingly discussed at the highest levels, better-designed strategic plans can be expected.

Liu Feng, vice-general manager of Phoenix Publishing & Media, says: "What we have is not a small domestic market, and CBI provides platforms for us publishers to go further, turning publishing projects into new channels of international cooperation."

Contact the writer at meijia@chinadaily.com.cn