E-book sales to take off along with mobile devices

The growing use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets in China could serve as the catalyst for a massive growth in the country's digital publishing industry, according to Robert Baensch, director of publishing programs at the SUNY Global Center, part of the State University of New York.

Speaking at the first World Digital Publishing Conference held in Beijing on Thursday, Baensch said that while not all smart-device owners will use theirs to read e-books, he expected that with their help the country's digital publishing sector is ready to take off.

"More than 50 percent of people in the US use smart devices and around 23 percent of them read through mobile devices," he said. "The Chinese market is ready for digital publishing."