Interview: Russia-China literary exchanges help with mutual understanding

Literary exchanges between Russia and China helped to promote mutual understanding of the two peoples, a senior Russian official has said.

"The more we read each other's books, the more knowledge we gain about each other, the stronger and more stable is becoming the basis of our multifaceted cooperation," said Vladimir Grigoryev, deputy head of the Rospechat, the Russian Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications.

There is no need to emphasize current high level of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the economic, political and technological areas, but the cooperation in the humanitarian sphere is no less important, Grigoryev told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The two countries had long traditions of literary exchanges, and books by Russian and Chinese writers added human aspect to the picture of modern society, instilled social values and formed the moral concepts, Grigoryev said.

"The peoples of our two countries have developed a serious and steady interest in contemporary authors, in today's books, providing a picture of the current life in our countries," he said, noting that a new level of bilateral relations have created new demand.

Under a translation and publication program of the two countries' classic and contemporary literature works, translated versions of up to 100 selected literary works would be published by each side.

Besides modern and contemporary works, the selected books also covered general humanitarian issues, history, philosophy, cultural studies, among others.

So far, Russia and China each has published 20 translated books since 2014, Grigoryev said, adding that experts of the two countries are currently working on the expansion of publications.

"All the best modern Russian translators are involved in translating Russia's contemporary works, while reprints of classic translations are supplied with new introductions and comments for modern readers," Grigoryev said.

In addition to the translation and publication program, forums of Russian and Chinese writers have been held in Beijing and Moscow to discuss important topics.

"The forums have initiated serious dialogues between professional writers of the two countries, made regular intellectual exchanges an important condition for further development and convergence of our literatures, and created favorable conditions for large-scale cultural exchange," Grigoryev said.

"Cultural exchange helps our people better understand each other and lays a solid foundation of people-to-people friendship," Grigoryev added. Endi