The first volume, Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting, written in both Chinese and English, was published in 1997.

The then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin brought it as the state gift to President Bill Clinton during his state visit to the United States later that year. The English edition won the Hawkins Award, the highest publishing award presented by the Association of American Publishers. So far, the volume has published five editions in simplified and traditional Chinese, English, French and Korean. In April 2006, President Hu Jintao donated Chinese Sculpture to the Yale University library as a gift during his visit to the United States.

"CIPG and Yale University Press did not look it with difficulties, but only look forward to further cooperation," Reed said. "The project went far beyond my expectations. If it was scored from one to 10, I think it is 11."

Eyeing the future

On August 10, 2008, the Truce Foundation of the United States, a non-profit organization, granted the Open Fields Awards to CIPG and Yale University Press for the project.

"They have overcome cultural, business, political, academic, linguistic, and other obstacles in the process of revealing the many pathways of Chinese civilization," the foundation commented.

According to Reed, Chinese Silks was just published in the United States in mid-August. A Chinese edition will be published later this year.

"Chinese Sculpture and The Art of Chinese Calligraphy are my favorites," Reed said. "We conclude with the Silks and see further cooperation in many areas as we move forward."

The series are available to all public libraries and universities' libraries, as well as to the private sector. It has a broad range of participation and readership both nationally and internationally. "We have literally over 100 countries for copies of our publications for their national libraries," he continued.

According to Huang, the current project that CIPG is working on with Yale University Press is a Chinese language-learning textbook entitled I Speak Chinese.

According to China's Confucius Institute Headquarters, also known as the Hanban, as of 2010 nearly 40 million foreigners were learning Chinese and over 2,500 universities in 100 countries were offering Chinese courses. The number of foreign students coming to China has increased by 20 percent in the past five years.

"When working on the eighth and ninth volumes of the Culture and Civilization of China, we realized that a Chinese-language learning textbook probably was the most needed product in the market," Huang told Beijing Review. "We should carry out different cooperative projects at different times."

Currently, the initial stage that involved teaching material video production, compilation and website design and setup was finished. The first volume has hit the market.

"The project is the platform for both countries to seek out further cultural exchange, promote peace and harmony, strengthen relationships, and improve understanding between the two countries. This series will benefit generations in understanding the civilization and culture of China," Reed said.

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