RABAT, Aug. 20 -- Morocco will participate for the first time in Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), slated for Aug. 26-30, the Moroccan ministry of culture said.

The ministry said in a statement on its website Thursday that this participation is a part of its strategy to open up to the Chinese culture.

This initiative comes as a result of new impetus in the relationships between the ministry and Moroccan publishers, on the one hand, and the latter and their Chinese counterparts in the fields of book making and translation, on the other hand, the statement added.

According to BIBF, a total of 2,270 publishers from 82 countries and regions will participate in the book fair.

The 2015 BIBF will exhibit about 270,000 publications in a 66,000 square-meter venue at China International Exhibition Center.