Japan does not supply the people of China with sufficient intellectual information to really understand Japan. Hence, in China, information on contemporary Japan is now chronically scarce. As a means to redress this situation, the Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund will commission, in China, translation and publication of books introducing contemporary Japan selected by experts in various fields from Japan and China. The Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund will assemble a screening committee composed of specialists from various fields. The committee will draw up a list of the books they wish to recommend, which the fund will then recommend to cooperating Chinese organizations. The fund will also be responsible for liaison between the selection committee, cooperating Chinese organizations and publishing companies. The task of translation and publication of the books in China will be outsourced to the 'Editorial Committee for the Books for Understanding Contemporary Japan Project', a group comprised of representatives from major Chinese publishers. The committee will select translators, negotiate copyrights, as well as translate, edit, publish, market, advertise, and sell the books. The committee will also conduct a follow-up survey. Through the above activities, ten Japanese language books per year will be translated into Chinese and published in China.

This year, the following activities will be carried out.

• Screening committee meeting：
  In 2009, the Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund assembled a screening committee composed of experts from Japan and China. This year, the fund will again support the committee in producing a list of recommended books, which will be passed on to cooperating organizations in China.
• Translation / publication：
  Translation and publishing of the books in China will be carried out by the 'Editorial Committee for the Books for Understanding Contemporary Japan Project', composed of representatives of Social Sciences Academic Press (SSAP), World Affairs Press, Peking University Press, Sanlian Press, Nanjing University Press and other major publishers in China. The committee was established in 2009. The committee will be commissioned by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation to carry out the following in China: select translators for the recommended books, negotiate copyrights, as well as translate, edit, publish, advertise, and sell the books. The committee will also be required to conduct a follow-up survey.
• Liaison meeting：
  The Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund will liaise between the selection committee, cooperating organizations in China, Japanese publishers and others as necessary, in line with the progress of selection, translation and publication of the books.