Marketsquare Asia 2008 and the Korea Christian Rights Fair had a 43% increase in attendance compared to last year's event, according to ChristianTrade Association International (CTAI).

Held Sept. 7-9 in Hong Kong, Marketsquare Asia drew more than 30 mainland Chinese publishers who attended for the first time thanks to scholarships from the Global Publishers Alliance (GPA), the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's sister organization.

Sixty Christian retailers from mainland China were also able to attend the event through offerings taken at the International Christian Retail Show this summer, CTAI officials said. "Marketsquare Asia is impacting kingdom growth with 1.3 billion Chinese," GPA President John Eames said.

Meanwhile, 49 Korean publishers participated in the Korea Christian Rights Fair, held Sept. 4-5 in Seoul, Korea. "Korea Christian publishers desire a close relationship with American publishers," said Kim Seung Tae, vice president of the Korea Christian Publishers Association. "Marketsquare Asia and the Korea Christian Rights Fair are the perfect venues for developing that relationship."

More than 20 U.S. publishers took part in the fair and Marketsquare Asia, where all the workshops were translated and a major address was presented in Mandarin for the first time. "The future of the Christian trade worldwide requires that events like these be available in the major languages of the people present," said CTAI President Jim Powell. "At both Seoul and Hong Kong, translators were available on the exhibit floor to help buyers and exhibitors communicate."