The new complete set of Tintin in Chinese. [GlobalTimes.cn]

A new Chinese version of children's bestseller The Adventures of Tintin was recently unveiled during a launch ceremony in Beijing to commemorate the comic's 81st anniversary.

Published by China Children's Press and Publication Group (CCPPG) with 22 adventures, the new version, all in color print, is the most comprehensive Chinese edition available to this day.

The new version also marks the first time that the famous comic strips have been directly translated from French to Chinese. The work was done by Wang Bingdong, a professor of French language at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

"It was really a fine and rewarding experience for me during the translation and I became younger with Tintin and his adventures. I was a Tintin fan when I was young," 75-year-old Wang said at the launch ceremony.

In 2001, CCPPG introduced the comics to Chinese readers and they were welcomed by fans, but the English to Chinese translation failed to faithfully present the original content, according to the publishing house.

In addition to direct translation, each adventure of the new edition is available in both small and large format, at a cost of 12 and 20 yuan (US$1.76 and US$2.93) each.

Created by the Belgian artist Georges Remi, The Adventures of Tintin is a series of comic strips that first appeared in a Belgian newspaper in 1929 and proved to be hugely popular. The adventures have been translated to 70-plus languages with a circulation of more than 200 million copies throughout the world.

Through the viewpoint of heroin Tintin, a teenage reporter who travels across the globe, the comics present exciting adventures, interesting and fun plots and unique and expressive illustrations.

A film version of The Secret of the Unicorn, an adventure from the series, is currently being produced by DreamWorks and shot by Steven Spielberg in motion-capture 3D and is expected to hit cinema screens across the globe in 2011.

(GlobalTimes.cn January 21, 2010)