The ancient Silk Road, explored more than 2,000 years ago, used to link China and the Arab world together. Now a group of people are endeavoring to unveil the modern picture to each other.

"Some people in Arab countries might have a rough idea of China's history, but few know the realities of today's China and the current life of Chinese individuals," Ahmed al-Saeed, an Egyptian living in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, told Beijing Review. As one of the first batch of students at the Chinese language degree program in Al-Azhar University in Cairo in 2001, Saeed never thought this choice could completely change his life path.

Start-up in Ningxia

While working as a part-time tour guide in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Saeed met some tourists from Ningxia who were impressed by his fluent Chinese and invited him to go to Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia, to serve as an interpreter at the first China-Arab States Economic and Trade Forum in 2010. Saeed made this trip and worked for the event.

This experience gave Saeed the idea of doing something to promote cultural exchanges between Arabs and Chinese people, as their cultural links were clearly weaker than their economic ties. He decided to stay in Yinchuan and seek new opportunities. While applying for a doctorate in ethnology at Ningxia University, he met two faculty members who invited him to join a start-up company.

"Initially, I just wanted to set up a small translation company, as I saw the market potential in this field," said Zhang Shirong, a teacher at Ningxia University. Zhang and Ma Yongliang, a professor at the Arab College of Ningxia University, were planning the venture when they met Saeed. They were impressed by Saeed's fluent Chinese and working experiences in Arab countries.

The three people hit it off instantly and named the company Ningxia Wisdom Palace Culture and Media Co. Ltd. It is named after the House of Wisdom—a library and translation institution founded more than 1,300 years ago in Baghdad. They put part of their early business efforts into translating some Chinese books into Arabic.

"Before 2013, it took time and energy to persuade publishing houses in Arab countries to cooperate," Zhang told Beijing Review. "We had to clarify the market potential and usually wait two or three months to receive their reply."

Since late 2013, they haven't needed to do this at all. "Currently, the publishing houses must compete for the opportunity to cooperate with us," Zhang said, revealing that now they just need to send them a list of the books they plan to publish, and normally seven or eight publishers compete for each book.

The reason for this change is the Belt and Road Initiative, which was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinxing in 2013. "The initiative aroused the curiosity of people in Arab countries toward China, and it is very significant. Our business has witnessed a boom since then," Zhang said.

The sales of Wisdom Palace jumped to 10 million yuan ($1.45 million) in 2014 from 3 million yuan ($441,000) in 2013 and rocketed to 25 million yuan ($3.68 million) in 2016. In 2017, the figure is expected to surpass 50 million yuan ($7.35 million).

Since its establishment, Wisdom Palace has translated more than 700 titles covering Chinese literature, culture, economy, travel and philosophy. Now the company's publications account for over 90 percent of the Chinese-Arabic translation market. "Our translation and publication schedule is full through to 2021," Zhang said.

Wisdom Palace, with its three co-founders all born after 1980, has been a miracle.

The stories

To help Arab readers better understand China, Wisdom Palace has employed 51 sinologists from Arabic-speaking countries. Apart from helping with the translation, they also write stories about China directly in Arabic.

"As they can approach the stories more from a perspective of Arab locals, their stories are widely welcomed by Arab readers," Saeed said. In November 2014, his book

Chinese Road: Miracle and Secrets was published, depicting changes in China over the past decades with the reform and opening-up policy. It is Saeed's first book written in Chinese.

The book turned out to be a great success and attracted some big-name fans, including Essam Sharaf, former Prime Minister of Egypt. The King of Jordan, Abdullah II Bin al-Hussein, presents this book as a gift while meeting leaders from other countries.

"China's development model is different from that of Western countries. Arabic speakers who want to do business in China are eager to learn about its policies and reform," Saeed said. "I want to tell them what the real China is like, and we will continue our efforts in this regard."

"Many people from Arab countries still harbor an old-fashioned impression of China," said Zhang, who once invited some friends from Egypt to Yinchuan. "After they landed in Yinchuan, they were stunned and asked me whether it is the most developed city in China. I told them actually this is one of the less developed regions in the country. If they go to Beijing or Shanghai, they will see a much more developed picture."

In January, Saeed released a book on the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. As an important component of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps is a special social organization that handles its own administrative and judicial affairs within the reclamation areas under its administration in accordance with laws and regulations of the state and the region. It assumes the responsibilities of cultivating and guarding the border areas.

The book is based on Saeed's several months' stay in Shihezi, a city in north Xinjiang. He conducted substantial interviews with local people. "Shihezi is a city built up on bare sand," he said. "The geographic features are like many places in Arab countries. I think such countries may learn something from the construction of Shihezi."

Now Wisdom Palace has expanded its business to the translation of e-books, Chinese movies and TV dramas, and is planning to offer content to Persian, Thai, Turkish and Kazakh speakers. Chinese movies also have many fans in Arab countries. For example, I Am Not Madam Bovary, directed

by Feng Xiaogang, also released an Arabic version.

The Arabic versions of biographies of successful Chinese entrepreneurs, including Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, Pony Ma Huateng, Chairman of Tencent Holdings, and Ren Zhengfei, President of Huawei Technologies, hit bookstores this January. All of them were translated by Wisdom Palace.

"Huawei is the most popular smartphone brand in Arab countries, with the number of Huawei users far surpassing those using the iPhone and Samsung smartphones together," said Saeed. "Many people know Alibaba's online shopping site Taobao and some have started to use Tencent's messaging app WeChat while doing business with China."

Saeed attributes his company's success to the availability of a lot of favorable elements. "We started this business at the right time and the Belt and Road Initiative has brought a huge number of opportunities for us. Moreover, we emerged at the right place, with the right people," he said.

Copyedited by Dominic James Madar

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