MUSCAT, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The 24th Muscat International Book Fair opened Wednesday evening and will run to March 2. Attended by 882 publishers representing 30 countries, the exhibition welcomes China for the first time.

The China Intercontinental Press and Harbin Cultural Exchange exhibited on the fair.

"Most of our books are about Chinese culture and are published in seven languages around the world, including Arabic, English and French," said Xie Yang from the China Intercontinental Press.

"We also have books about scientific, literary, Chinese traditional medicine and children books," added Xie, adding that the other Chinese publishers Harbin Cultural Exchange focuses more on children's books, intelligence games and promotion tools.

Abdul Moneim bin Mansour Al Hassani, Minister of Information and Chairman of the Muscat International Book Fair, said at the opening ceremony that the exhibition has important influence both in Arab countries and internationally.