The book fair Reading China, Tasting Anhui opened in New York City on Oct 11, co-hosted by the Anhui Xinhua Distribution Group and Chung Hwa Book Company in USA.

The two companies also signed an agreement to promote exchanges of books and further cooperation.

Wang Mingdao, general manager of Chung Hwa, said the company has been established in Flushing area of Queens for 18 years and the brand is well known among overseas Chinese.

Wang believed that Flushing is an ideal location for the book company and has helped attract a huge overseas audience.

According to the US Census Bureau, the population of Queens has increased nearly 2 percent since 2010 and now stands at about 2.3 million. The fast pace is largely due to hot neighborhoods such as Flushing, which is also home to baseball's New York Mets and tennis' Arthur Ashe Stadium, home of the US Open. It was also the site of two World's Fairs.

Cao Jie, president of Anhui Xinhua Distribution Group, expressed his gratitude to Chung Hwa and said he hoped that the joint venture with Chung Hwa would attract a lot of attention from not only overseas Chinese, but other groups as well.

"I hope there is an increasing number of people who come to appreciate the beauty of China and the beauty of Anhui," said Cao.

As part of the culture exchanges event, Anhui Xinhua Distribution Group also donated 500 books with a total value of $8,000 to the Flushing and Elmhurst libraries. All the donated books will open for public reading and borrowing to home.

Representatives from both libraries were on hand and presented gifts to Cao in appreciation.

Grace Meng, US representative from New York, sent a representative to present a proclamation to Anhui Xinhua Distribution Group for its generous donation.

Other dignitaries present were Cao Zhenghua, director of the Publicity Department of Anhui province; Peter Koo, New York City councilman; Li Zhimin, director of press and public affairs office at China's consulate general in New York and many others.

The exhibition will last to Nov 15.

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