A lecture on global development trends in the publishing industry was held by the Phoenix Publishing & Media Inc. (PPM) from Aug 30 to Sept 2 at the Phoenix Plaza in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.

The two and a half-day lecture covered two topics. World renowned publishing consultant, Ruediger Wischenbart, gave a talk on globalization, and how digital and new consumer habits have radically transformed the industry.

Another topic covered digital and Internet marketing in the book publishing industry, and was delivered by three US publishing experts – Robert E. Baensch, Chris Sigfrids, and Jeffrey Yamaguchi.

The topics were chosen because the publishing industry is now facing great challenges in the process of transforming from traditional printing to digital and Internet marketing. It is considered one of the industry's top priorities to figure out how to sell both printed and electronic books on a more wide-ranging platform.

Wu Xiaoping, president of PPM, welcomed the four experts at the opening ceremony. He added that he believed their insightful views will enlighten Chinese publishing companies including PPM.

More than 100 PPM employees attended the lecture, during which the experts taught them ways to map out forward-looking publishing strategies to suit the fast-changing market, based on market surveys and data analysis.

She Jiangtao, vice president of PPM, thanked the experts at the end of the lecture. She urged the attendees to practice and master the skills they learned from the lecture and posited that the best book editor is the one who is able to get maximum benefit from each book.