Stefán Skjaldarson, Iceland's ambassador to China, paid a visit to the Yilin Press, a subsidiary of Phoenix Publishing and Media Inc. on April 15. Gu Aibin, president of Yilin, showed Skjaldarson and his colleagues around the press.

Gu described the history of Yilin and the efforts they had made to spread the literature and culture of the northern European country. Skjaldarson expressed his appreciation for Yilin's publications of the Edda and Saga, two classic epics from Iceland. He also complimented the publisher for its work on cross-cultural exchange and the spreading of world literature as well as the quality of its publications in literature, biography and the social sciences.

In the guest book, Skjaldarson wrote, "I extend the greatest respect to Yilin Press for translating and publishing the Chinese versions of the Edda and Saga, the most significant and famous epics in the literature of Iceland."

Yilin first published them in the 1990s and Edda was nominated for a National Book Award. Last year, it published a contemporary Icelandic literary classic, Blue Fox (Skugga-Baldur), the only book to be translated directly from Icelandic into Chinese.

In 2016, Yilin expects to publish a collection of epics, another Icelandic masterpiece, Between the Trees, and reprint Edda and Sagas.

Skjaldarson took the ambassadorial post in August 2013. For the reprint of Edda, he plans to write a foreword to better introduce the cultural value and influence of this epic.