LONDON, Oct. 20-- The London China Book Festival was launched on Monday evening in Hatchards, the oldest bookshop in central London.

Running from Oct. 19 to 28, the event will see the promotion of China-themed books in more than 20 bookstores and cultural places, including book retailer Waterstones, the bookstores of British Museum and Harrods.

Among those exhibited are the English version of influential Chinese books published in recent years. For most of the books, this is their debut in Britain.

Books highlighting the festival include 38 books dedicated to China's political and economic topics, such as "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China", as well as more than 60 books on Chinese traditional and modern literature, such as "A Dream of Red Mansions", and "The Three-Body Problem".

Guo Weimin, deputy head of China's State Council Information Office at the Opening Ceremony said the festival came as part of cultural exchange programs to celebrate President Xi's state visit to Britain.

"The Governance of China, authored by Xi Jinping, is the centerpiece of the book festival. Over 5.2 million copies of the book have been distributed globally, hitting a record for global circulation of books ever written by a Chinese leader since 1978 when reform and opening up was initiated in China," said Guo.

Hatchards, established in 1797, is London's oldest bookshop.