On the occasion of the celebrations marking the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo’s death, Atlantyca Entertainment and Chinese publisher 21 Century Publishing Group, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing, have chosen the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the most important children’s publishing event in Italy, to announce the upcoming publication in Chinese of Geronimo Stilton’s two-volume book dedicated to Marco Polo. This is an important publishing operation introducing Chinese children to the famous Venetian merchant-traveler who first paved the way for cultural exchange between Italy and China. Special guest and narrator is Geronimo Stilton, the mouse journalist most loved by children around the world, launched in China 15 years ago by 21 Century bringing sales to 16 million copies.
The event included the signing ceremony of the agreement between Atlantyca and Chinese publisher 21 Century Publishing Group for the publication from Italian to Chinese of Geronimo Stilton’s two-volume book dedicated to Marco Polo and the agreement with the Beijing Institute of Culture, creator of the project, for support in the translation from Italian to Chinese.
This publishing project is part of the initiatives promoted by the Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Italian Diplomatic Network in China to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the death of the Venetian traveler-merchant; always an iconic figure in Italian-Chinese relations.
Attending the event were : Claudia Mazzucco ATLANTYCA ENTERTAINMENT CEO, Ms MIN Rong (闵蓉) – Vice President 21st Century Publishing Group, Mr Federico Roberto Antonelli – Direttore “Chiara Fama” of the Italian Institute of Culture in Beijing, Ms Chen Hui 陈晖 北京师范大学文学院 – Professor of Language and Literature at Beijing Normal University, Zhao Haiyun ( 赵海云 中宣部进出口管理局副局长) – Vice General Administration Director for Chinese Publishing (or Mr Zhang Ming Zhou – Executive Director of China Publishing Association – (张明舟, 国际儿童读物联盟前任主席、生命树文化促进中心理事长) and Councilor Simona Battiloro – IV Office Manager of DGDP Director General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy for MAECI.
Present at the event – Mr XIONG Chi 江西出版传媒集团代表团团长，江西教育出版社社长，熊炽 President of Jiangxi Education Publishing House and leader of Jiangxi Publishing & Media Group and Mr Zhang Ming Zhou – Executive Director of China Publishing Association – (张明舟, 国际儿童读物联盟前任主席、生命树文化促进中心理事长).
Similar initiatives supporting the translation from Italian into Chinese by Peking’s Institute of Culture include the special publishing project “1000 Wonders in Blue,” by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, carried out by Piemme-Mondadori Libri Publishing, in collaboration with Atlantyca for the international versions, of which the Chinese publisher, 21 Century, will announce the publication in Simplified Chinese on August 9th, again at the Bologna International Bookfair.
