Demand for books on China keeps growing in Iraq

Alongside a bustling road named “al-Mutanabi” in downtown Baghdad, pedestrians often cease at roadside bookstores or bookstalls to search for books of curiosity.

As a novel cultural space and a bookselling heart, the road has witnessed a rising demand for books on China over time. Now, writings on China are among the many top-selling gadgets.

“Just lately, college students started to review Iraq-China relations and the Belt and Street Initiative, which led to the unfold of books on the initiative’s impression, causes, outcomes and advantages,” mentioned Khalid Hussein, a 35-year-old proprietor of a bookstore on the street.

Like Hussein, many different booksellers on the street attribute the rising curiosity in China to the deepening bilateral ties, particularly the rising cooperation inside the Belt and Street framework.

“The Belt and Street Initiative has inspired Iraqi readers and researchers to find the tradition and literature of the Chinese language folks, and in addition promoted the interpretation of Chinese language books into Arabic for Arab researchers,” mentioned Salam Rahman, one other bookstore proprietor.

Within the eyes of Mohammed Jamil, professor of anthropology and sociology on the Baghdad-based al-Mustansiriyah College, books on China written by Chinese language writers have supplied readers with credible details about the nation.

“There are (Chinese language) authors who’re all for writing books and exporting them to the Arab area and that is good for the Iraqi readers who’ve began to acquire such books,” Jamil mentioned.

“We see that there are extra books (on China), dozens of books in our library now, which could be very useful to the library and enriches the data heritage,” he added.

In the meantime, seeing the Belt and Street as an ideal alternative for his or her nation, extra Iraqi students and postgraduate college students have determined to put in writing analysis papers on China or bilateral cooperation.

Aqeel al-Rubaie, a politics professor on the Baghdad-based Imam Jaafar al-Sadiq College, is writing a e-book on Iraq’s alternatives and advantages from its financial cooperation with China.

“Twenty years in the past, Iraqi intellectuals or readers knew little about China, however at present the state of affairs is completely different. Iraqi readers and researchers are looking for details about China,” mentioned al-Rubaie, an everyday customer to the bookstores within the al-Mutanabi road.

China’s growth achievements and visions on selling mutual profit and customary prosperity have generated a want amongst Iraqi readers to be taught extra concerning the nation, mentioned the scholar.