World Book Day

A recently released national survey on reading among Chinese citizens showed a steady rise in reading as a habit in China. The overall reading habit level among Chinese adults stood at 81.9 percent in 2023, a slight increase from 2022 and a 12.2-percentage-point growth from 2008, according to the latest national reading survey published by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication at the third National Conference on Reading that began on April 23, World Book Day. The survey indicated that the habit of reading books among Chinese adults was at 59.8 percent in 2023, up 10.5 percentage points from 2008. Chinese adults read an average of 4.75 printed books and 3.4 digital books per capita last year. A train staff member shares books with students during a reading activity on train 5634, which travels from Xichang city to Mianning county in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo/Zhou Zeping) An average adult spent an average of 23.38 minutes reading printed books last year, the survey showed. Moreover, 80.3 percent of Chinese adults had experience with digital reading, such as reading on computers, mobile phones, or other handheld devices, in 2023, reflecting a 0.2-percentage-point increase from the previous…