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Tell China stories and avoid commercialization: award-winning author

Xinhua, April 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

China's culture and mythology provide writers with rich material to adapt for success in the children's book market, the Chinese winner of a top literary prize said on Monday.

Cao Wenxuan, who became the first Chinese to win the Hans Christian Andersen Prize earlier this month, said, "China's children literature has made a unique contribution to the world, as the tremendous suffering our country has gone through has provided a lot of unique material for writers.

"There is a profusion of Chinese stories we can write about. This is a unique advantage."

Cao's accolade, which follows that of Nobel laureate Mo Yan and Hugo Award-winning Liu Cixin in securing Chinese writers' place on the world stage, is sure to boost China's children's book market that saw double-digit growth in 2015.

Cao, however, warned of uneven standards among writers, accusing some of lacking dedication to hone their talents and looking for a quick buck.

"Children's literature is so important to the kids. Writers should not be driven by commercial concerns and must instead sit quietly down to write quality works," the 62-year-old Peking University professor said. Endi