Reading on rise for CPC members

Time spent with literature grows as social activities takea back seat to new habits

As World Book Day arrived on Thursday, reading events bloomed nationwide as the government encouraged a love of literature among the public.

And surveys show that Party and government groups are taking the lead.

Jiangsu province launched a four-day reading festival in Nanjing on Thursday during which scholars gave lectures, and a team of volunteers was created to read books aloud to the visually impaired.

The government also plans to turn the city's Xuanwu Lake Park into a readers' paradise by building a library and a book cafe for lectures and book fairs.

"Chinese people love reading. It is a tradition that goes back thousands of years," said Sun Shoushan, deputy director of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, at the launch of the 5th Beijing Reading Season on Saturday. "The government puts great emphasis on encouraging a love of reading among people and has included a policy to promote reading in the government's work report since 2014."

It's no easy task to promote reading across the country. Leisure time is decreasing in an increasingly fast-paced life. The average daily leisure time for Chinese people was 2.55 hours in 2014, less than half that in developed countries, according to a survey by China Central Television of 100,000 sample households.

Only one-tenth of daily leisure time－about 15 minutes－was spent reading, while one-third was spent on the Internet and one-sixth on TV, the survey showed.

Party members are required to set an example of valuing reading, and recent surveys show they devote more of their leisure time to it.