Xi congratulates national conference on reading

President Xi Jinping called on Party members and officials to take the lead in reading and learning in order to foster virtues and ideals and improve their abilities.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remark in his congratulatory letter to the First National Conference on Reading, which opened in Beijing on Saturday.

Reading helps the Chinese people to carry on the traditional spirit of perseverance and shape their character of self-confidence and self-reliance, Xi said.

"I hope that all our children will have the habit of reading, enjoy reading and grow up in a healthy way," he said in the letter.

"I wish that all of our people are engaged in reading and contribute to an atmosphere where everyone loves reading, has good books to read and knows how to gain from reading," he said.

Saturday marked the 27th World Book and Copyright Day.

The three-day national conference on reading includes a series of seminars, exhibitions and book launch events, among other themed activities, to provide an overview of China's development in publishing, its reading atmosphere and Chinese people's reading habits.

"The congratulatory letter provided key guidance for our national reading campaign," said Wu Shulin, head of the Publishers Association of China. "Chinese publishers should thus take greater responsibility to bring more good books to society."

According to a report released on the conference, about 60 percent of Chinese adults read books in 2021, and 11.9 percent of Chinese adults read more than 10 paper-as opposed to electronic-books.

Adults read on average 4.76 paper books last year, compared with 4.7 in 2020, and 3.3 electronic books. Young people under the age of 18 read on average 10.93 books last year, as opposed to 10.71 books in 2020.

People are increasingly adapting to new forms of "reading". Three in four adults read on their phones and over 30 percent listened to audiobooks last year.

Meanwhile, short videos in which a narrator tells the contents and background of a book and gives interpretations are emerging as a new means of getting to know a book. However, 45.6 percent of people still preferred to read a paper book.

Last year, Chinese adults read on average 21.05 minutes per day, about one minute longer than in 2020.

The survey, conducted by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication in Beijing, had more than 42,000 respondents from 162 cities in 30 provincial regions.

"The general trend is good," said Wei Yushan, head of the academy. "People are reading more books, and more people are engaged in reading."

The survey indicated a reading gap between urban and rural areas, and closing it will be a key task in future national reading campaign promotions.

Various other activities were also held across the country on Saturday in celebration of World Book and Copyright Day. The National Library of China released the new winners of the Wenjin Book Awards, one of China's highest book prizes dedicated to nonliterary works.

Nineteen books, categorized in social sciences, popular science, and for children, were awarded in this year's 17th edition of the event. They were selected from over 2,500 books from 252 publishing houses.

Winners include a memoir of the famous translator Xu Yuanchong, who died last year as a centenarian, and a book describing China's recent lunar exploration project.

"The awards can help build bridges among readers, publishers, and authors, and thus contribute to promoting public reading through good works," said Huo Ruijuan, deputy director of the national library.

"People now seem to be unable to put down their phones, where information is fragmented," said Liu Jiaqi, a Wenjin Book Awards juror. "Reading the classics is still needed today. Through this, people's horizons can be broadened and their taste cultivated."

But high quality book publishing has to embrace the digital era.

On Sunday, Xinhua News Agency reported, the publicity department of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China issued opinions on how to promote in-depth publishing convergence.

As the first policy document regarding the merging of advanced technology with the traditional publishing industry in the digital era, it aimed to provide a comprehensive plan for future development and guidance for the publishing houses of the future.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Full text of Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the First National Conference on Reading