Shanghai Mayor Visits 2026 Book Fair, Stresses Tech-Led Publishing Modernization

The 2026 Shanghai Book Fair and the Reading in China Shanghai Week ran from August 12 to 18, bringing together approximately 21 publishing groups and 380 publishers featuring 180,000 book titles, and hosting around 1,420 events.

On August 14, Gong Zheng, Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and Mayor of Shanghai, visited the Shanghai Exhibition Center, where he toured themed bookshelves and the “Reading Shanghai” public reading action exhibition to learn about themed book publishing and reading activities.

Afterwards, Gong and his delegation inspected the Shanghai Periodicals Excellence Exhibition, the guest province Heilongjiang publishing area, and the China Publishing Group area in the central hall, exchanged views with officials, and greeted book fair volunteers.

The municipal leaders also visited the Shanghai Century Publishing exhibition area in East Hall 1, examining the group's New Era themed excellence exhibition, Century Brand Hall, and Century Publishing Digital Publishing Hall. They browsed books and received briefings on Shanghai's book publishing achievements and digital-intelligent applications.

This year's fair focuses on value-led direction, digital-intelligent co-creation, brand building, integration of culture, commerce, tourism, sports and exhibitions, and benefit-sharing for the public. It aims to push fair resources to grassroots communities and foster a citywide reading atmosphere.

Zhao Jiaming, member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and head of the Publicity Department, participated in related activities.