On June 18, the “Publishing Light” International Academic Publishing Breakfast Exchange Conference was held at the China National Convention Center. Wen Hongwu, Chairman of China Publishing Group, held in-depth discussions with representatives from De Gruyter Brill, Princeton University Press, SAGE Publishing, Springer Nature, and Taylor & Francis Group (arranged in alphabetical order by English name). The two sides exchanged views on topics including jointly prospering the global academic publishing ecosystem, broadening the landscape of global knowledge dissemination, and promoting the positive enabling role of AI in publishing, with a view to advancing multi-level and in-depth cooperation.

Wen Hongwu noted that the overseas publishing houses attending the breakfast exchange are not only key players in global academic publishing but also long-standing partners of China Publishing Group. He emphasized that the Group has long been deeply engaged in academic publishing, with a systematic academic publishing structure and top-tier author and translator resources. He expressed the expectation to work alongside international academic publishers to leverage each other’s strengths and jointly promote the steady development of global academic publishing dissemination. He also voiced the hope for collaborative efforts in co-developing high-level publications, co-building a high-level journal matrix, and co-hosting high-level academic conferences to broaden the channels for cross-border knowledge dissemination. Furthermore, he expressed the desire to jointly establish intelligent and shared knowledge infrastructure in the academic publishing field and reinforce the ethical and integrity foundation of academic publishing in the AI era.

The representatives of the internationally renowned publishing institutions in attendance shared their business cooperation presence in China and their reflections on industry development. Christie Henry, Director of Princeton University Press, noted that the Press focuses on the unique value of the Chinese market, has launched the Princeton-Wenyan China Lecture Series in collaboration with Peking University to create joint China-foreign academic lectures, and continues to publish original works by Chinese scholars for global distribution. Arnout Jacobs, President of Springer Nature Greater China, stated that the company continues to deepen its publishing efforts in China-themed research, recently launching a series of monographs and supporting academic journals focusing on China’s influence in the Global South, and is ready to leverage its established book and journal distribution channels to expand the global reach of Chinese research findings and enhance the international influence of Chinese scholarship. Maurits van den Boogert, Chief Publishing Officer and Editor-in-Chief of De Gruyter Brill, observed that AI presents far greater opportunities than challenges for the publishing industry, and looked forward to leveraging intelligent technologies to break down academic language barriers and facilitate the internationalization of Chinese-language scholarship. Leon Heward-Mills, Managing Director, Academic Publishing (Books and Journals) and Chief Content Officer of Taylor & Francis Group, emphasized that publishing credibility and academic ethics are the Group’s two core tenets, and that academic publishing must remain people-centered with rigorous content quality control, adding that Chinese academic output has become a core content source for the Group. Ziyad Marar, Global Publishing President of SAGE Publishing, noted that his company’s business focus aligns closely with that of China Publishing Group, indicating significant potential for in-depth cooperation between the two sides. All participating guests expressed strong recognition of China’s national reading promotion efforts and voiced their willingness to join hands in supporting China’s reading promotion initiatives.

The exchange conference was hosted by China Publishing Group. Attendees included representatives from overseas academic publishing institutions, as well as leaders from the Group’s subsidiaries including The Commercial Press, Zhonghua Book Company, SDX Joint Publishing Company, China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corporation, and the Group’s Publishing Department.