SHANGHAI — From the introduction of cutting-edge AI tools to showcasing cultural products and interactive activities like collectible stamp hunts, this year’s Shanghai Book Fair illustrated how publishers are diversifying their offerings to meet the evolving demands of readers and the broader market.

The fair, which concluded on Tuesday and is now in its 20th edition, drew nearly 400,000 attendees to the Shanghai Exhibition Center, where more than 160,000 titles from 360 publishers were displayed. This year’s event also featured over 1,000 online and offline activities, highlighting its growing significance in the city’s cultural calendar and the publishing industry’s efforts to engage a broader audience.

The Book Fair highlighted a shift toward greater diversity, as many publishers broadened their offerings to include a wider range of cultural and creative products. Consequently, the number of self-developed items has surged, leading to the expansion of exhibition areas dedicated to these products.

Additionally, many publishers introduced interactive activities, including stamp collecting. This year’s fair featured nearly 600 collectible stamps, ranging from limited-edition designs themed around the Shanghai Book Fair to those incorporating vintage elements and historical cultural themes.

“I came to the book fair specifically to collect stamps,” said 22-year-old Shanghai resident Liu Jiaqi, showing Sixth Tone her notebook filled with examples from various publishers. Some were obtained by scanning QR codes, while others required a purchase.

Liu had spent nearly 500 yuan ($70) at the fair but felt it was worth it. “Most of the books I bought were at a 50% discount, and many are hard to find in regular bookstores,” she said.

In 2024, widely recognized as the “Year of AI Application,” Shanghai-based Century Publishing Group — one of the city’s largest publishing houses — debuted a series of innovations across three key areas: reference books, traditional culture, and educational publishing.

Among the highlights was a newly developed “writing assistant,” a plug-in compatible with Microsoft Word and WPS, offering functions such as definition searches, literary text retrieval, and semantic searches.

“The search results are derived exclusively from authoritative reference books, effectively avoiding the ‘hallucination’ issues commonly associated with large language models,” Liu Yinchun, a representative from Century Publishing Group, told Sixth Tone at the book fair. “This ensures the accuracy and reliability of the information provided.”

The group’s digital publishing pavilion also featured its “open data platform,” which utilizes content from 200 authoritative reference books and connects with over 50 internet applications. This platform includes a “word lookup by screen tapping” feature that instantly displays word meanings.

“This was my biggest gain from this book fair,” 40-year-old Zhou Youren told Sixth Tone, referring to the new word lookup feature. He said it could address his needs for looking up words while reading and writing, prompting him to sign up as a member on the spot.

For the past two decades, Zhou has attended the book fair annually. Each visit, he said, brings fresh discoveries and surprises. “The true magic of the book fair lies in the unexpected encounters with books that one might not come across otherwise. It’s a place where stories and ideas converge, offering readers a unique opportunity to explore new worlds and perspectives.”

(Header image: Crowds at the 2024 Shanghai Book Fair, Aug. 20, 2024. Wu Huiyuan/Sixth Tone)