Taipei concludes long-awaited book fair

TAIPEI, June 7 (Xinhua) -- This year's Taipei International Book Exhibition concluded on Tuesday after six days of exhibitions and various activities held against the backdrop of COVID-19 prevention and control.

More than 360 publishing houses from 31 countries and regions participated in the long-awaited event, which had been suspended for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year's book fair, the 30th edition of its kind, incorporated 10 themed sub-exhibitions and 250 activities like reading salons and lectures, according to the organizer. It was anticipated to help boost confidence in Taiwan's publishing industry.

Statistics show that the output value of Taiwan's publishing industry has dwindled from 36.7 billion new Taiwan dollars (about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2010 to less than 18 billion new Taiwan dollars in recent years.

About 30 percent of exhibitors opted out as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic in Taiwan. So far, Taiwan has reported more than 2.5 million local infections, according to the island's disease monitoring agency.