Alemillach from Spain is poplular on Qidian International

China's online literature industry has attracted many foreign writers to join the creative team, injecting impetus to the sharing of Chinese literature, Beijing Daily reported on Sept. 17.

The second Chinese Network Literature Convention concluded on Sept. 16, with a number of foreign web writers and translators present for the first time.

Over 2,000 foreign writers published over 4,000 ebooks in English or their mother tongue on Qidian International, the website and application of Tencent’s ebook subsidiary China Literature, said content operation director Yang Chen.

These online novels by foreign writers generally include Chinese elements such as immortal heroes, Chinese food and wuxia (martial arts).

For instance, 28-year-old Moloxiv from Singapore includes cute pandas in his work, while Spanish writer Alemillach, once a traditional novel writer, recently published his first online piece, which depicts the story of finding one's real self from the perspective of a protagonist with memories of a past life.

Yang said that China Literature, a leading online literature platform in China, has published over 200 translated works since May 2017, attracting over 13 million subscribers.

He added that over 200 translators from all over the world have served Chinese online literature so far.

Translation is not only switching from one language to another, but a type of cross-cultural communication, said a Singaporean translator who has worked on Chinese-English literature translation for more than three years.

Such words as Jindan (golden elixir) and Yuanshen (primordial deity) are typical in Chinese literature, said the translator, but these words are hard to convey concisely in English.

Now, a wider range of Chinese literature is reaching the western world through translation, he added.

It may well provide more possibilities for western literature, as more western writers join in the creation of online literature, noted Shao Yanjun, an associate professor in Chinese literature at Peking University.