Yao Haijun, deputy director of Science Fiction World (SFW), the world's most popular science fiction periodical in terms of circulation, signed a contract to make award-winning author Liu Cixin's "Three Body" trilogy the first full-length sci-fi work to be translated for an overseas audience, marking a giant leap for the Chinese sci-fi industry.

After selling 400,000 Chinese-language copies, the three-part saga will be translated into English within six months and jointly published in both print and digital forms by China Educational Publications Import & Export Corporation Ltd. and SFW.