A woman prepares a book shelf at Frankfurt book fair on Tuesday. The world's largest book fair is focusing on Chinese literature. (Johannes Eisele/Reuters)

Frankfurt Book Fair organizers are readying themselves for controversy over this year's guest of honour — China.

The five-day book showcase opens Wednesday with 6,900 exhibitors from more than 100 countries.

It took organizers 15 years to woo China as the official guest and the book fair's famed translation program is in overdrive, with books such as Wolf Totem, Jiang Rong's Chinese bestseller, translated into German.

The official delegation is likely to met with protests from groups troubled by China's human rights record, especially its treatment of Tibetans.

The issue of Chinese censorship will hang over the event, with the official delegation denying it suppresses press freedoms, even as Chinese writers languish in jail.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to open the fair with Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping on Wednesday and has promised to raise the issue in her private talks with Xi.

"In my talks I will make it clear to Chinese representatives that freedom of opinion is not a threat, but an opportunity," Merkel said in her weekend podcast.

Dissident writers living in the West are also expected to crash the party, along with PEN, the group that works to advance freedom of expression that is one of the non-governmental organizations scheduled to attend.

'We have another voice'

Dissident Chinese poet Bei Ling said visitors to the fair should hear more than just the official voice presented by China.

"'We have another voice, this underground literature voice, underground poetry," Bei said.

It's unpredictable how China will receive the presence of dissidents.

In September, members of a Chinese delegation walked out of a pre-book fair symposium after two authors — Bei and Dai Qing — attended.

About 500 events involving Chinese writers will be scheduled over the coming week, but only half of them are sponsored by the Chinese culture ministry.

The other half are being scheduled by book fair organizers, who say they hope to spark a cultural dialogue by including China's critics and addressing censorship issues.

"Especially for Germans, this is important. We have seen the impact of discussion; that when you speak with one another, you can tear down walls," said book fair director Juergen Boos.

Boos said he hopes Chinese delegates see the benefit of discussing freedom of expression and other controversial issues.

There is great interest in Chinese titles among German readers, publishers say and the book fair has the potential to introduce many Chinese writers to the world.

With files from The Associated Press