People visit the Thessaloniki Book Fair in Thessaloniki, Greece, on May 4, 2018. For the 15th year, the International Book Fair was inaugurated on Thursday in Greece's Thessaloniki. (Xinhua/Dimitris Tosidis)

ATHENS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- For the 15th year, the International Book Fair was inaugurated on Thursday in Greece's Thessaloniki.

The event, one of the top cultural events in the country, plans to address today's critical issues, discuss them in the light of relevant books and the people that write them.

The main topics to be addressed during the four-day fair are democracy in the 21st century along with the themes of "literature and memory" and the "refugee experience".

"The cultural economy has the potential to become one of the main pillars of society and the book industry can find the position it deserves in the country's development strategy," Deputy Culture and Sports Minister Konstantinos Stratis said in a speech at the opening ceremony.

Every year, the book fair brings together hundreds of publishers, writers, booksellers, librarians, institutions, and organizations for books from Greece, Europe, South-Eastern Mediterranean, and across the world.

China is among the foreign countries that take part in the fair with major publication groups since Chinese culture is popular among visitors.

For many people, there is nothing more enjoyable than reading a good book and getting lost in their imagination. In Thessaloniki, even bus stops are transformed into libraries as part of an initiative by authorities to improve locals' daily commute.

It is estimated that more than 60,000 bibliophiles from every part of the country visit the book fair every year.