Books still count, but web content seen to rise

China's appetite for reading, which grew by leaps and bounds over the past 20 years, has seen little change as a whole in the past year, but what is read and how it is read continue to evolve, a survey found.

Adults read just under eight books on average last year, including some 3.3 digital books, according to the 16th national survey on reading released by Chinese Academy of Press and Publication on Tuesday in Beijing.

Younger people read more, the survey found. Readers 17 years or younger logged almost nine books apart from textbooks, a slight increase from 2017. Youths 14 to 17 years old read an average of 11.5 books outside of classwork.