The fourth volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China on display at the entrance of the Beijing Book Building on July 12, 2022. Photo: VCG

On November 19, 2022, during a visit to Thailand, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented the English version of the four-volume collection Xi Jinping: The Governance of China to Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Prayut, who had previously recommended that his cabinet read the books, was pleased to receive this special gift.

From the publication of the first volume in September 2014 to the distribution of the fourth volume in June 2022, up till now, Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, which contains a selection of speeches, talks, interviews, instructions, and correspondence from and by the Chinese leader on the country's governance, have been published in 37 languages, including Russian, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Japanese, and Icelandic. The books are now available in more than 170 countries and regions, with 39 face-to-face or online promotional activities held in 32 countries, making it the most widely read and translated work by a Chinese leader, with the largest circulation and the widest coverage since China's reform and opening-up in the late 1970s.

Analysts pointed out that the world is experiencing profound changes unseen in a century, so Chinese wisdom and solutions to common problems to mankind have attracted the attention of the international community. Xi Jinping: The Governance of China is a series of books that captures the two main common concerns of the international community about China, namely "what China wants to say to the world" and "what the world wants to know about China," and has become an important window through which the international community can discover the secret of China's development and solve its own problems.  

The book has won critical acclaim from international dignitaries and experts, including former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, and former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

At the debut ceremony of the book in October 2014, Schroeder said that the book can help people learn more about China's politics, and that the ideas of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and an open, stable, and affluent China are also in the interests of Europe.

"The book has reflected Xi's strong commitment and efforts toward deeper reform on governance," former Cambodian deputy prime minister and cabinet minister Sok An commented, "It will enable the world to better understand China's development, domestic and foreign policies, and response to the concerns from international community.

In August 2018, the Italian version of the book received a special Pavese Prize literary award for its congruence with Pavese's own love and passion for his motherland and its social progress. The Pavese Prize is named after the great Italian writer Cesare Pavese.

A number of translators said that countries with different social systems and in different stages of development can get inspiration from the book.

When the overseas circulation of the book was launched, more and more people in the international community really felt the pulse of China's development and positive change brought about by the country. The book, as a medium, promotes exchanges among and mutual appreciation of Chinese and foreign civilizations and enables the world to better understand China.

Global Times