Exchanges of books among the countries of East Asia, as well as collaborations on publishing projects, are all being undertaken by members of the publishing profession. There is no question that exchanges among publishers in our countries, particularly the younger generation, should be actively encouraged.

History shows us that China, Korea and Japan share common cultural roots, including the cultural tradition of the book. Yet we cannot say that exchanges among people in our countries have gone smoothly; indeed, contact with our East Asian neighbors has often seemed more problematic than contact with the West. The primary barrier is language. Whereas English serves as a lingua franca between Easterners and Westerners, we have no such convenient communication tool among East Asians. If we are to actively promote exchanges among East Asian publishing professionals, we must give serious thought to the barriers that obstruct our communications with one another.

To the extent of my knowledge, in the years since the reform and opening of China, our publishing industries have carried out a number of very successful personnel exchange programs between China and Japan and between China and South Korea. However, these efforts have been on a small scale, involving only a few publishing professionals.

In that light, it is clear that we need to build a platform for open exchange among publishers in East Asia so as to facilitate such exchanges among as many people as possible, particularly young publishers. The East Asia Publishers Conference should assume a leadership role in constructing this platform, with administrative tasks for each country to be handled by organizations occupying a relatively intermediate position in that country's publishing industry.

This exchange platform could handle, at a minimum, the following tasks:

Information gathering: Collect information about publishing professionals in one's own country who have studied the languages of other East Asian countries and have an interest in cultural and publishing exchanges with those countries.

Organization building: Create a functioning contact system and service organization, and establish a process that handles all aspects of exchanges, from recommendations and applications to travel arrangements and follow-up evaluations. East Asian publishing professionals could make use of this platform to initiate more frequent exchange programs.

This platform could also support the development of a system of personnel exchange of open-minded, internationally-minded professionals among publishing houses in each country, modeled after the visiting professorships sponsored by universities.

Due to the constraints of money and time, there are few opportunities for East Asian publishing professionals to meet face to face. Hence it is important to expand this exchange platform as extensively as possible via the following media.

Print media: We could, for example, compile and publish an "East Asian Publishers Library" of selected books and reference works that have had a significant influence in the publishing world. These would be "required reading" for every publishing professional.

The Internet: We could add a "Personnel Exchange and Knowledge Sharing" page to the EAPC Website, uploading not only works from the "East Asian Publishers Library" and other knowledge sources, but creating a virtual community for communication among publishers.

Additionally, we could utilize the opportunities provided by the international book fairs in Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul to hold an "East Asian Publishing Professionals Training Camp," encouraging participation by editors and publishers from throughout our region, particularly the younger generation.

Funding will be required not only for the maintenance and operation of this platform, but also for the support of talented young professionals who show promise for the future of publishing in our respective countries. I also urge publishing organizations in each of our countries to provide financial assistance for the international exchange of publishing personnel. I have faith that publishing industry leaders of foresight will support such an exchange program. Not only do the vast potential of China's publishing market and the experience of Japan's and Korea's publishers have something to offer each other, but the value of personnel exchanges and training is obvious for an industry like publishing in which the human element is so significant.

My proposal merely outlines the first steps toward developing such a personnel exchange program. I hope that the participants in this conference will use it as a springboard for serious discussion of the idea.

Finally, I want to say that I am personally eager to lend my efforts to the development of such a program among East Asian publishers. The Beijing NewBeing Creative Publishing and Reading Promotion Institute, which we are currently in the process of launching, would be glad to handle office operations for this exchange platform. The Institute, which is to serve as a creative site for China's publishing industry, receives government funding, occupies a 10,000-square-meter building, and will be a place of constant interaction among publishing professionals. A variety of publishing-related organizations will occupy space here: a book market research institute, publishers groups, publishing industry training and educational organizations, publishing rights agencies, Chinese offices of overseas publishers, book design offices, top-level commercial publication planning and editorial offices, and prepress services among others.