Editor’s Note: Lin Bin, General Manager, Deputy Chairman, and Editor-in-Chief of the Straits Publishing and Distribution Group, sat down with BookDao to discuss the group's business expansion, major topics, and project updates over the past few years. Despite the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the publishing industry in 2022, the SPDG leveraged its strengths in thematic content and deep exploration of local cultural characteristics to achieve impressive results: a 7.14% increase in annual revenue and an 8.41% increase in profit, demonstrating a strong upward trend overall. Over the last year, while leveraging the advantages of thematic publishing and the role of a publishing bridgehead between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, the SPDG has also made significant strides in talent development and construction, while expanding into the field of convergent publishing.

Thematic Publishing and the Role of Publishers in Meeting Today's Demands

BookDao: As an important birthplace and practice ground for Xi Jinping's socialist ideology with Chinese characteristics in the new era, what are the expectations for the SPDG's annual major topic selection in Fujian? What preparations has the SPDG made for thematic publishing?

Lin Bin: General Secretary Xi worked in Fujian for seventeen and a half years, leaving behind significant spiritual wealth. Fujian is an important birthplace and practice ground for Xi Jinping's socialist ideology with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and the SPDG is the publicity base of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era Research Center.

In July 1992, Fujian People's Publishing House published Comrade Xi Jinping's book "Shaking Off Poverty," which was well-received by cadres and the masses. The book includes 29 important speeches and articles by Comrade Xi Jinping during his tenure as Secretary of the Ningde Prefectural Committee from 1988 to 1990. In 2014, we reprinted "Shaking Off Poverty," which not only received an enthusiastic response in China but was also translated into English, French, Spanish, and Cyrillic Mongolian and widely disseminated in over 100 countries.

In June 2022, four provinces (municipalities) - Hebei, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Shanghai - organized the publication and distribution of four systematic books on Comrade Xi Jinping's local work experience, overseen by the Publicity Department of the Central Committee. The SPDG is responsible for publishing "New Splendor of Fujian's Mountains and Waters - Xi Jinping's Footprints in Fujian", which was launched in 2017, carefully crafted, and well-received by readers after publication, sparking a wave of study.

Last year marked the 20th anniversary of Comrade Xi Jinping's proposal of the "Jinjiang Experience." The "Jinjiang Experience" is Comrade Xi Jinping's theoretical summary of Jinjiang's development practice before 2002. Guided by the "Jinjiang Experience," Jinjiang's economic and social development has achieved brilliant results. In July 2022, we launched the book "Jinjiang Experience - Exploring the Path of Chinese-Style Modernization in County Areas", which has received a considerable response in academia. "Jinjiang Experience - Exploring the Path of Chinese-Style Modernization in County Areas" is the most systematic book to date on the "Jinjiang Experience," with a long timeline. Essentially, the "Jinjiang Experience" is experience in modernization, and this book focuses on exploring the "Jinjiang Experience" from the perspective of exploring the path of Chinese-style modernization in county areas, which I think is particularly valuable.

We are now collaborating with Wang Yiwei, Vice President of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era Research Institute at Renmin University of China, to write the book "Building a Community of Common Destiny for the Oceans," which is also an important work to look forward to. Regarding General Secretary Xi Jinping's practical exploration and theoretical innovation in Fujian, the SPDG will continue to publish new works and new achievements in the research of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

The Publishing Industry's Untapped Potential in Promoting a Closer Bond Between People on Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait

BookDao: The SPDG has a special advantage in its geographical ties with Taiwan. How does the SPDG leverage this advantage to create unique content? From a content development perspective, what other areas do you think the SPDG can expand into?

Lin Bin: Fujian has the "Five Links" advantage in cross-strait exchanges (proximity, kinship, cultural ties, commercial ties, and legal ties), making "cross-strait" publishing one of the group's specialties. Over the years, the SPDG has served as a bridge and platform for promoting academic and cultural exchanges, creative activities, and publishing between the two sides of the Strait. We actively explore new ways to promote cross-strait cultural integration and enhance the spiritual connection between compatriots on both sides. We carefully select cultural topics with a distinct cross-strait character and contemporary vitality, organize more cultural exchange activities that are accessible to Taiwan people, and actively promote cross-strait publishing and cultural exchanges to jointly promote Chinese culture.

In 2021, we launched "A Comprehensive History of Taiwan" (six volumes), a panoramic history of Taiwan's development from ancient times to the present, co-authored by scholars from both sides of the Strait. It provides many new historical materials and documents and is the longest, most comprehensive, and largest history book on Taiwan to date. This book won the "China Excellent Publication Award" this year. It elucidates the correct historical view of Taiwan, advances the study of Taiwan's history, and constructs an academic and discourse system for the study of Taiwanese history with Chinese characteristics.

On the basis of absorbing the latest research results of scholars from both sides of the Strait, "A Comprehensive History of Taiwan" systematically and objectively explores many problems that have not been studied or have not been thoroughly studied by previous scholars, with academic significance. It also presents the spread and development of Chinese civilization in Taiwan, indisputably proving that Taiwan is an integral part of China's territory. This book has also made a strong rebuttal against "de-Sinicization."

Taiwan was part of Fujian Province for a long time in the past. Matsu was still part of Lianjiang County in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, and Kinmen was part of Quanzhou, Fujian Province. Most Taiwanese people migrated from Fujian, and their dialect is our Minnan dialect. We also pay great attention to the source relationship between Fujian and Taiwan in our research on the Minnan dialect. In the "Minnan Dialect Dictionary" published in 2006, there is a special chapter on "Overview of Taiwanese Minnan Dialect," which elaborates on the distribution, phonology, and lexical features of Taiwanese Minnan dialect. The Taiwanese Minnan dialect actually evolved from the dialects of Xiamen, Quanzhou, and Zhangzhou.

Cross-strait cultural relations have a long history and are inseparable. We have also compiled a series of "Genealogies in Fujian and Taiwan," which includes 100 volumes that clearly show the population migration patterns. The migration of Fujian people to Taiwan has led to the growth of their surname branches, opening up a new world.

Through these publications, we have demonstrated from different perspectives that the relationship between Fujian and Taiwan is closely connected and is an integral part of the long-standing and brilliant Chinese civilization. Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.

From a content development perspective, there is much more that we can do to promote greater intimacy between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. The SPDG has the Cross-Strait Children's Reading Forum, the Cross-Strait Youth Happy Reading Club, the "New Classroom-New Teacher" Cross-Strait Basic Education Exchange and Seminar, and the Kinmen Book Fair, among other exchange platforms. We have also published and distributed "Cross-Strait Pictorial" in Taiwan. Through our dual-track strategy of introducing and exporting copyrights, we have published more than 500 Taiwanese children's books, forming a unique children's book section with a cross-strait character. In 2023, in addition to continuing to promote existing activities, projects, and platform construction, we plan to organize a cross-strait media tour of Fujian to bring together media professionals and photographers from both sides, especially those from Taiwan, to experience firsthand the integration and cultural roots of Fujian and Taiwan.

Consolidating and Publishing Local Culture: An Essential Mission and Responsibility

BookDao: Fujian boasts rich and unique cultural resources. How has the SPDG further promoted Fujian's stories? What are your plans for exploring related topics this year?

Lin Bin: Fujian has a unique human and geographical environment. The mountains and rivers have enabled Fujian to preserve and protect its excellent traditional culture in a more complete and diverse manner. With a long history and profound cultural heritage, Fujian has abundant cultural resources, and we attach great importance to exploring Fujian's culture.

Led by the Publicity Department of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the CPC, the "Bamin Library" multimedia publishing project is divided into two parts: a total of 1650 volumes of printed books, including 800 volumes of "document integration", 350 volumes of "selected works", and 500 volumes of "thematic compilations", as well as a digital product that integrates artificial intelligence information processing technology. It is the largest systematic combing and presentation of Fujian literature, classics, and historical culture to date. "Bamin Library" focuses on newly discovered historical materials since modern times, highlights the characteristics of Fujian's regional culture, and reflects the principles of creative transformation and innovative development.

Currently, we have published the first series of "Fujian Document Integration" with 200 volumes, 75% of which are printed for the first time, including exquisite woodblock prints and many manuscript copies. The latest publication, "Fujian Folk Contract Documents," with 50 volumes, is all printed for the first time and has high documentary value. Through this book, we can clearly see the development context of Fujian's culture during the high period from the Tang and Song Dynasties, especially since the cultural center moved southward from the Song Dynasty.

We also select books to sort and compile representative works of Fujian's representative writers, and include them in the "Selected Works." The "Thematic Compilation" section highlights Fujian's regional cultural characteristics and represents the expansion of our modern academic vision. I think that in today's academic field, as Mr. Ge Zhaoguang said, we cannot only look up at elite culture but also look down at "cellars" after seeing the "attic" to have a complete view. "Bamin Library" is our ten-year plan, and we will continue to work towards the goal of making it a landmark project for local literature and a career.

We have published a set of "Fujian Drama Series," which won a national award. Fujian, as a province with a rich theatrical tradition, has well-preserved ancient theatrical models, which are the "living fossils" of ancient drama.

Fujian culture is very unique, especially its maritime and open characteristics, which are distinctive features of Fujian culture and worth developing. In the Yuan Dynasty, "The Travels of Marco Polo" described Quanzhou as the "largest port in the East," even surpassing the port of Alexandria at that time, and becoming a world-renowned port. In the book "Social Life of the Chinese: With Some Account of Their Religious, Governmental, Educational, and Business Customs and Opinions," written by an American missionary in late Qing Dynasty Fuzhou that we published in 2009, Fuzhou was the largest red tea export port in the country with extensive external exchanges. The author regarded Fuzhou as a "first-class city like Guangzhou."

Fujian's Min school of translation is also very influential, such as Yan Fu's translations of "The Evolution of Chinese Society" and "Das Kapital," and Lin Shu's translations of more than 20 works, including "La Dame aux Camélias." Chen Jitong was also one of the first Fujianese to go abroad and translated "The Napoleonic Code" and works by Victor Hugo and Moliere. Gu Hongming, Bing Xin, Zheng Zhenduo, and Lin Yutang are also Min school translators. Since the Song Dynasty, Fujian has occupied an important position in the cultural geography of China and in the history of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, which can be verified from a large number of documents.

In the future, the SPDG plans to fully tap the local cultural characteristics and carry out more valuable and meaningful projects. In recent years, Fujian has focused on building "Fujian culture." We have published a batch of related books around this theme, including this year's "The Wisdom of Min People: Fujian You May Not Know," and we plan to publish a batch of deep-digging varieties on "Fujian culture." In terms of traditional culture, we have launched the "Fujian Ancient Post Road" and are now working on a series of books on "Fujian Ancient Guard Stations." In the aspect of telling Fujian's stories, we have published "Lin Zhanxi and Chinese Fungi Grass," "The Running Chinese Grass," which promotes the spirit of Lin Zhanxi, the 2022 person of the year who received the "July 1 Medal," and "The Story of Lin Dan, the Premier of the Alley," which publicizes the deeds of Lin Dan, the winner of the "July 1 Medal."

Driving Integration and Development through Strategic Planning to Maximize Publishing Value

BookDao: Despite the challenges of the past three years, with last year being particularly difficult, in 2022, the revenue of the SPDG increased by 7.14%, and the profits increased by 8.41%, showing a high growth trend overall. What work has the SPDG done to achieve these results?

Lin Bin: One of the most important things we did was to plan and build our physical book product lines, pay attention to our long-selling and best-selling book clusters, and optimize our product lines. We hope to have commercial hits, but this requires the right timing and circumstances. We do have some products that have done quite well, such as "Thumb Captain," which sold over 5 million copies, and "My Mom Is a Fairy," which has been a standout performer in the market. The "National Excellent Children's Literature Award Grand Prize Book Series" that we published in 2022 also had a good impact, and we plan to release dozens more this year. In addition, works by famous writers such as Cao Wenxuan, Gao Hongbo, and Hei He will continue to be released. We also have several long-selling and enduring bestsellers, such as "Chinese Ancient History" and "Color Atlas of Chinese Medicinal Herbs," which have built the foundation for our sustainable publishing development.

At the same time, we are also expanding our digital publishing. Fujian Chuangzhi Alliance Digital Education Technology Co., Ltd. and Fujian Education Publishing House 1819 Technology Co., Ltd., both under the group, have performed well in recent years, with a combined revenue of over 100 million yuan. "Chuangzhi Alliance" had a growth rate of around 100% in the previous year, and although it was affected by the pandemic last year, its growth still exceeded 30%, making it on the list of key reserve companies for listing in Fuzhou.

In recent years, the SPDG has collaborated with external partners to jointly develop virtual reality, metaverse, smart education, immersive cultural tourism, blockchain, and other areas, creating a new model of integration and development of digital technology and education and cultural industries. We are using new cultural services and consumption to promote the development of the digital economy, forming new publishing and cultural business models in the era of the digital economy.

We encourage traditional publishing houses to explore and innovate more in terms of convergent development. Publishing should be content-centered, driven by diversity, and developed in a compound manner. For example, the SPDG gave considerable support to the full copyright operation of the "Thumb Captain" IP, which has achieved certain results, and we have some metaverse products landing this year. In addition to print books, audio, and video, "Thumb Captain" also has a small theater, a milk tea shop, cultural products, and many offline activities. We also collaborated with the Fujian Radio and Television Group's children's channel, which was renamed "Thumb Captain TV," with audio broadcasts exceeding 200 million. These attempts will help transform and develop publishing in the future, maximizing its value through exploration.

At the group level, the most important thing is strategic planning. We need to be aware of the crisis and expand professional publishing into knowledge services based on resource endowments, develop product lines for the education market, and focus on promoting IP incubation and full copyright operation for mass publishing. The SPDG has always encouraged traditional publishing houses to explore more integration and diversification, maximizing the value of publishing. For example, "China Bird Handbook" is the best product in this category, and the book won the China Excellent Publication Award. It not only has a print version but also a "Bird Identifier" WeChat mini-program and APP, as well as a Chinese ecological database that supports its content. We are promoting related research and learning projects and course development that incorporate content from the Chinese ecological database. Accumulating high-quality digital content is our important work now. In the digital service field, it is difficult to develop without unique resource advantages that cannot be replaced by others. Of course, doing well in digital products does not necessarily mean the product can achieve good monetization. We are currently exploring better commercial profit models through practice.

Publishing is a Long-Term Commitment and Requires Dedicated Individuals to Excel

BookDao: As the editor-in-chief of the SPDG, how would you evaluate the current content business process? In terms of guidance, planning, management, and process monitoring, how can the editorial committee and publishing house better work together?

Lin Bin: Like many other groups, we also have our own editorial committee. It has been established for many years and has its own operational standards. Before the annual topic selection is submitted, it undergoes scrutiny from the editorial committee, with the main focus being on screening the topic orientation. If there are any issues with the selected topics, the editorial committee will provide clear opinions.

The editorial committee office is a permanent institution responsible for daily work. If problems are identified or research is needed, the editorial committee will convene a special meeting to remind everyone to pay attention to certain issues and how to do topic selection and content well. The editorial committee is not just about topic and content management; it is more important in providing forward-looking advice and suggestions, giving direction guidance, and being more helpful to everyone.

Regarding topic selection and content development, the SPDG has always maintained a high degree of attention to its publishing houses, providing support and funding for policies, as well as rewarding award-winning works, key books, bestsellers, and product line development. For example, "New Splendor of Fujian's Mountains and Waters - Xi Jinping's Footprints in Fujian" and "Poetry in a Faraway Place: A Record of the 'Min-Ning Experience'" were awarded the Publicity Department of the CCCPC's "Five-One Project" Special Award and Excellent Works Award last year, and we gave the publishing house a high reward.

If an author of a book has won the Mao Dun Literature Award, the Lu Xun Literature Award, or the three major publishing awards, or is a best-selling author, the SPDG will provide support by paying half or two-thirds of the publishing house's manuscript fee to encourage originality. For publishing houses focusing on market-oriented books, the SPDG also provides support for brand characteristic product line development, marketing of bestsellers, and other aspects. The support and reward funds issued by the SPDG to its publishing houses amount to about RMB 10-20 million per year.

BookDao: During your tenure as General Manager, Vice Chairman, and Editor-in-chief of the SPDG, what significant improvements have been made in talent development? What kind of talent do you think the publishing industry will need in the future?

Lin Bin: Publishing needs specialists as well as generalists, and talent with compound skills. At this year's Beijing Book Fair, I visited a booth of a publishing house and found that half of the books were children's books. The most prominent thing was a girl with vivid expressions and full of passion selling books on live streaming. It left a deep impression on me.

We need excellent marketing talents, and our publishing house is training such talents. In the future, our industry will face greater challenges, and the construction of a talent team for the convergent development of traditional publishing houses is related to the future development of publishing houses.

Excellent publishing talents joining the industry and staying in it are key to the development of the publishing industry. If there are no people who love books and publishing, who are willing to dedicate themselves to books and publishing, then this industry is a cause for concern. If we lack talent, we must introduce it, which is a blood transfusion, and then we must blend it to truly integrate these talents into our team and become an organic entity. We must move beyond the "I am me, you are you" mindset and embrace a "You are me, and I am you" perspective. This is an ideal talent team condition.

I entered the publishing industry in the 1980s, a golden age of publishing. Every book we published could sell well. The first set of books I worked on sold more than 300,000 copies. We witnessed the glorious era of publishing. At that time, we were driven by a love for books. To enter this industry, you need a love of books. If you love reading and do well in books, you will have a kind of inner joy.

When we entered publishing, we had a sense of awe and felt that publishing was a very respectable industry. Later, with the increasing competition in the market, we faced more and more complex factors. You cannot simply sit in the office and write manuscripts. You have to deal with more readers, channels, markets, and use more technical means. This change is indeed very significant, a sign of the times.

BookDao:As a publishing veteran, how do you view the current changes in the book market?

Lin Bin: Publishing is a long-term business, and it must be viewed from a long-term perspective. A publishing brand is not built overnight or in a year or two. It must be sustained for many years, even through the efforts of several generations, to truly become a brand. The publishing market has undergone significant changes in the past two years. For a publishing house, it is impossible to excessively rely on a single product or product line. It must actively innovate and expand new businesses on the basis of doing well in its core product categories.

The publishing industry itself is a creative industry. The entire publishing process embodies creativity. At the content level, we need to strengthen originality. In recent years, the SPDG has provided funding support for outstanding original authors and works, encouraging original content creation. On this basis, we should also innovate in layout design, marketing methods, and other aspects, so that good content can be better presented. A good book must be both form and content, and a book that is both attractive and well-designed will be welcomed by readers, even if it caters to a niche audience.

To improve the reading culture in our society, it is crucial to promote reading among all citizens and to instill a love of reading in children from a young age. While digitalization has made it difficult to encourage deep reading, the unique charm of paper books cannot be replaced by screen reading. Therefore, we must bring readers of all ages back to reading and support the creation of high-quality publications by excellent publishers.