Hefei Opens 24-Hour Bookstore for Foreign Experts

Pan Yaqun, head of the Anhui Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, offers books to Geofrey Kivisha, a foreign teacher with Hefei No 8 Senior High School, at the opening ceremony of the book house in Hefei, on June 6, 2018. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A 24-hour bookstore in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, opened the country's first book house for foreign talents on Wednesday, as the inland city enhanced its efforts to further open up.

The book house will be used as a channel to help foreign experts overcome cultural differences and assimilate to society, Fan Zhaoqing, an official of the Anhui Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, told China Daily Website on the sideline of the opening ceremony.

More than 2,000 books in English, Japanese, Russian, France or Spanish are available for free read in the book house, covering areas such as politics, economics, culture and diplomacy in China.

Pan Yaqun, head of the Anhui Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, vowed to attract foreign talents by improving the "soft power" of Hefei - making the city more attractive, for instance.

He told reporters in a separate interview that the newly opened book house is part of the goal, as Hefei ranked the No 1 Chinese city with most bookworms for the second consecutive year in a 2017 mid-year list released by Amazon China, one of the country's major online booksellers.

As part of the 3,800-square-meter bookstore, which provides other services such as drinks and gadgets, the book house for foreign talents also aims to provide a venue for them to meet with each other.