Participants at a forum on advancing integration in publishing agree that it's essential to strengthen technological leadership, integrate technological advancements with publishing innovation, and accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation of the publishing industry.
Representatives of publishing institutions and cultural and technological enterprises, scholars from universities and colleges, and officials from relevant authorities, recently gathered for the sub-forum, which had the theme, "Integration promotes development, transformation shapes the future".
They exchanged views on key issues such as organizational transformation, technological empowerment, talent nurturing, and industry restructuring in the integrated development of publishing.
It was part of the Forum on Building Up China's Cultural Strength 2026, which was held in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, in late May.
"As technological barriers are removed and anyone can create and express themselves with artificial intelligence, the needs of readers are no longer limited to simply finishing a book. They crave deep intellectual connection, solutions for real-world problems, and immersive reading experiences," said Chen Wei, chairman of CITIC Press Group, in his keynote speech.
He emphasized that in the face of such industrial restructuring, publishing organizations must focus on integrated development and scale up their investments.
"Besides financial input, efforts should also include developing an understanding of the industry's new paradigm, nurturing talent with digital capabilities, and fostering an open and collaborative ecosystem. This requires publishers to adopt a more forward-looking strategic vision and the courage to reform," he said.
Sun Qiang, chairman of People's Education Press, agreed. According to him, the publishing press prioritizes the recruitment of talent in AI and related fields, to build a high-quality professional talent team. A three-year mentoring system will be adopted for new employees, and senior staff members will provide them with guidance. There are also different training programs for mid-career employees to improve their digital literacy.
Wu Yike, a researcher from the Publishing Research Institute, Nankai University, offered a complementary perspective. "AI excels in efficiency, connectivity, and generative capacity, making knowledge more accessible. The value of publishing lies in quality standards, the organization of knowledge and value judgment, ensuring reliable knowledge services," he said.
"Therefore, the more advanced AI technologies grow, the more integrated publishing needs to provide a solid foundation of trustworthy and usable content," he said.
To advance the development of credible content, Wu suggested that this work should focus on providing high-quality content that stands rigorous scrutiny, turning fragmented content into organized knowledge, strengthening collaboration between AI and professionals and clarifying their respective responsibility boundaries.
The "new trio" of cultural exports — online literature, web dramas and online games — has gained global popularity in recent years. For example, Black Myth: Wukong, a hit Chinese video game, has spread Chinese culture to the world via animation and gaming.
Tong Zhilei, chairman and CEO of COL Group, said that the popularity stems from deepening publishing integration and ever-expanding publishing boundaries. The future of integrated publishing lies in focusing on content origins to drive the multiformat development of online literature, web dramas and online games, while continuously enhancing intelligent production capabilities.
"Publishing has never been merely about producing and distributing books. Rather, its core purpose is to bring knowledge, ideas, stories and culture to wider audiences, to be seen, understood and carried forward. In the digital age, this fundamental mission remains unchanged, and we have richer ways to fulfill it, diverse pathways to connect with audiences, and a broader scope to serve society," Tong said.
Zhao Dongyan, a researcher at the Wangxuan Institute of Computer Technology, Peking University, noted that intelligent publishing represents an opportunity for a new round of innovation and transformation of the publishing industry in the AI era.
According to him, in 2025, the adoption rate of AI-generated content among publishing institutions nationwide reached 54 percent, with applications mainly in content review and proofreading, content creation, and user experience improvement.
He added that it is essential to develop AI tools for all stages of content publishing, provide end-to-end intelligent publishing technologies, and enable new forms of content publishing and knowledge services based on large language models.
