On October 7, during the Frankfurt Book Fair, ZHAO Xin, President of Tsinghua University Press (TUP), led a delegation to visit Wiley-VCH GmbH in Weinheim, Germany, and held a working meeting with Guido F. Herrmann, Managing Director of Wiley-VCH and Head of Global Industry, Partner and Academic Relations at John Wiley & Sons. The two sides engaged in in-depth exchanges on issues such as the impact of emerging technology trends on the publishing industry, and shared views on deepening practical cooperation in book and journal publishing. The visit was one of TUP's international exchange activities during the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair. Also attending the meeting were Dr. SUN Yu, Associate General Editor of Tsinghua University Press, and representatives from its Computer & IT Division, the Vocational Education Division, the Science and Engineering Division, the Academic Center, the Journal Publishing Center, and the International Cooperation Department, as well as representatives from Wiley-VCH—José Oliveira, Director of Relationship Management; Frank Weinreich, Publisher of Physical Sciences Books; Martin Vinding, Senior Director of Partner Publishing – EMEA; Melanie Lehnert-Bechle, Senior Director of Open Research; and Melody ZHANG, Journal Publisher.
Tsinghua University Press delegation visits Wiley-VCH GmbH in Weinheim, Germany.
SUN Yu presented an overview of Tsinghua University Press's positioning, business structure, and internationalization strategy. As a comprehensive publisher affiliated with Tsinghua University, with higher education and academic publishing as its core business, TUP has established a coordinated business structure covering book publishing, journal publishing, and digital publishing. In terms of international cooperation, TUP has maintained a long-standing and stable partnership with John Wiley & Sons. In journal publishing, Wiley and TUP jointly publish two medical journals, Health Care Science and Medicine Advances, both of which were ranked in Q1 in the 2025 Journal Citation Reports (JCR). In book publishing, Wiley was named a TUP "Most Valued Global Partner" in 2025/2026.
SUN Yu presents an overview of Tsinghua University Press.
Herrmann introduced Wiley-VCH and the Wiley group. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Weinheim, Germany, Wiley-VCH is a publishing company of John Wiley & Sons with a strong publishing tradition in chemistry, physics, materials science, and the life sciences. The company also undertakes the publishing operations of part of Wiley's global academic journals and the management of its international partnerships. Its three major segments—academic journals, reference works, and specialized databases—all include globally recognized imprints and products; one example is Wiley's academic book series known for its classic blue-and-white cover design. Herrmann further shared Wiley's practices and reflections on open access publishing, innovation in journal operation models, and copyright protection.
In the discussion session, TUP & Wiley-VCH exchanged views on the following four topics: the boundaries of AI application in book and journal publishing; changes to editors' responsibilities and career planning for publishing professionals in the new era; strategies to track global higher education reforms and develop forward-looking interdisciplinary textbooks; and journal performance evaluation criteria and procedures for discontinuing under-performing journals.
Both sides agreed that the application of artificial intelligence, open science, and higher education reform are simultaneously reshaping the content production, evaluation systems, and talent structure of academic publishing, and that it is necessary for university presses and international publishing organizations to strengthen communication and share experience on frontier issues.
Participants from both sides
In recent years, TUP has made global engagement a strategic priority, working closely with major international academic publishers on rights acquisition and licensing, co-publishing, and joint journal development. TUP will continue to actively promote Chinese academic publishing overseas and extend the global reach and influence of Chinese scholarship.
