China has been named the honored country as part of a market promoting program at the 2012 London Book Fair (LBF), according to sources with the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP).

"As approved by related government departments, China will officially be the honored country for the Market Focus program in the 2012 London Book Fair," said Zhang Fuhai, director of GAPP's foreign exchange and cooperation department, at a news conference Monday.

Zhang said hundreds of activities are being planned in conjunction with the program, without giving further details.

According to Zhang, more than 10,000 titles of English-language books are available in China.

"Every year, English-language books make up about 25 percent of the world's total. In the future, English-language books will still be the biggest and most important book market," Zhang said.

"The program will have positive effects on boosting the book trade between China and the United Kingdom," Zhang noted, adding that the program will provide opportunities for more English-language books from China's publishers to be sold on the global market.

From 2004 to 2008, the book copyright trading volume between China and the UK surpassed 8,600 titles, said Zhang.

The Market Focus program, created in 2004 as part of the LBF, aims at promoting trade links with a specific region and helping build long-term business partnerships between the country and the international book industry.

Also on Monday, the Beijing International Book Fair 2010 opened with India as the Guest of Honor.

The event, scheduled from August 30 to September 3, will showcase some 200,000 books from more than 58 countries and regions, according to the book fair's website.

It is estimated that the book fair will attract 200,000 visitors.

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2010)