A 500-member Chinese delegation of publishing professionals wrapped up here Friday what organizers called the most impressive guest of honor event in the history of America's biggest international book fair.

Some 150 Chinese publishers displayed nearly 10,000 book titles at the China Pavilion of the venue of the BookExpo America (BEA), where some 130 professional and cultural programs and displays were held in the past three days, said organizers.

"This maybe coming to an end for China, (but) I do think this is very much the beginning for American and Chinese publishers to do business," said BEA event director Steven Rosato Friday.

This year's BEA book event also came at a time when the Chinese publishing industry scored an impressive performance last year. According to official data, some 198,000 new books were published in China and a record high of 1.3 million titles were sold in bookstores in the year.

BEA, which dates back to 1947 and was then known as the American Booksellers Association Convention and Trade Show, is usually held in major U.S. cities in late May or early June. It offers the largest selection of English language titles and is also the largest gathering of booksellers, librarians, retailers and book industry professionals in North America.

BEA is scheduled to move to Chicago next year and Poland is taking over as the next guest of honor. Endite

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