A comparative analysis of China-themed books in three ASEAN countries: Implications for resource development and intercultural communication

Abstract

Books are an important carrier of culture. Library catalogs across different countries can reflect intercultural communication. This paper aims to explore the situation and differences of China-themed books in three ASEAN countries: Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. These countries are representative of the intercultural relations between China and ASEAN members. Descriptive analysis is used to analyze the series of books, focusing on the time and subjects of the book resources. The paper also compares the distribution of books about the three countries in the National Library of China. The results show that Malaysia and Thailand have more comprehensive and in-depth cultural collection of China-themed book resources, while the Philippines includes more books related to China's development and social realities. This study is helpful to resource and collection development related to particular countries and regions and the intercultural communication between countries.