'Xi Jinping: The Governance of China' English edition launched in Frankfurt

The English edition of the fifth edition of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, was officially launched at a special event held on the sidelines of the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest platform for literature and ideas.

The event, hosted by China International Communications Group (CICG), was attended by Chinese and German officials, publishing professionals and scholars to discuss how the latest volume continues to shape the understanding of China's governance philosophy and modernization path.

Speaking at the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Germany Deng Hongbo said, "This important book appeared at the Frankfurt Book Fair, providing readers from Europe and the world with the latest authoritative guidelines to learn more about and understand China."

The Governance of China series compiles President Xi Jinping's key speeches and writings, outlining China's national strategy and approach to development. The fifth volume follows four earlier editions that have been translated into more than 40 languages and distributed in over 180 countries.

Former Hessen State official Michael Borchmann said cultural exchange plays an essential role in building mutual understanding. 

"There is a program of the Chinese called people-to-people dialog. It is very important that not only the politicians speak to each other, but the people come together too," he said. "If people meet each other and they have friends in the other country, this is very important and a basis for good relations."

Yu Yingfu, Vice President of CICG, described the new volume as a reflection of China's ongoing transformation. 

"It comprehensively reflects the latest achievements of Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, bringing a new perspective to the international community to understand contemporary China," he said.

One of the book's English-language editors, David W. Ferguson of the Foreign Languages Press, explained the challenges of translation. 

"The single biggest problem is that most of the material is written in Chinese, by Chinese, for Chinese, and the Chinese cultural idiom is so different," he highlighted. "It's very difficult to get it across while trying to remain as true to the language as is possible."

For China's publishers and diplomats, the release of The Governance of China Volume V is more than a literary event — it is a bid to foster a deeper understanding of the country's ideas and development model through its own words.