Oxford University Press CEO: Publishers Can Play a Vital Role in Building Links with China

HONG KONG, April 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Nigel Portwood, Chief Executive of Oxford University Press (OUP) will tell the London Book Fair about the continuing opportunity publishers have to build links between China and the West.

The CEO of the world's largest university press, which already works with Chinese publishers, learned societies, and academics in China, will speak of further potential during a session at the Professional Publishing Forum at the fair.

The session is part of London's Country of Honour programme, and comes on the tenth anniversary of OUP's Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise in China.

Portwood said, "We are increasingly sharing professional practices and insights with our partners in China. This is helping to make strides at building cultural, academic, and educational exchange, and as digitization and globalization brings us closer together, I fully expect those links to build and strengthen."

OUP China is based in Hong Kong and has further offices in Shanghai and Beijing. In recent times, it has collaborated on a number of important initiatives for the Chinese market including:

• The Oxford Chinese Dictionary, the largest, most authoritative English-Chinese dictionary ever made published by editorial teams in Oxford, Shanghai, and Hong Kong in association with Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP);
• A series of co-published English language textbooks with Chinese publishers that support the curriculum reform in China -- helping millions of students every year learn English and providing teacher training to tens of thousands teachers;
• Six scholarly journals co-published with Chinese learned societies, including the Chinese journal with the highest impact factor -- the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology.

Portwood will co-chair the London session, which is named 'Professional Publishing Forum: Co-operation and Win-win' with Yu Chunchi, Vice President of China Education Publishing & Media Group.

Other speakers will include Arnaud Nourry of Hachette Livre; Chen Haiyan, President of the Phoenix Group; Simon Allen, CEO of Macmillan Education; Cai Jianfeng, President of FLTRP; Tan Yue of China Publishing Group; He Yaomin, President of China Renmin University Press; and Stephen Bourne, CEO of Cambridge University Press.