Illustration: Hang Dachuan/Global Times
As World Book and Copyright Day is approaching, many activities have been launched by the government to encourage all Chinese to read.
The Beijing Book Fair kicked off on April 14 and is set to last until Monday, a day after World Book and Copyright Day. The book fair has been held since 1980. The main venue in 2023 is 2,000 square meters bigger than previous editions and more than 200 exhibitors are participating, an increase of 50 percent from the last fair. Meanwhile, more than 400,000 books are available at the main venue, double that of the last edition.
In particular, the 13th reading season in Beijing will be launched on Sunday by issuing a list of good books and inviting experts to tell their reading-related stories.
Together with this on-site venue, the Beijing Book Fair is launching events on new media platforms, such as live-streaming sales of books.
In order to cater to the need of readers in the digital era, bookstores and libraries are also trying their best to provide immersive experiences to attract readers.
To mark the day, the National Library of China will host open lectures on selected books in its studio. Nearly 100 libraries from across the country will be involved in the activity.
The library will also hold a special online story-telling session for children, and raise interactive topics through its official website by inviting little readers to share their views on their favorite books in the form of writing, pictures, video or audio messages.
This measure echoes the call from the Chinese government to encourage young people to read more.
In early April, China's Ministry of Education, together with seven other ministries, promulgated the National Implementation Plan of Action for Young People to Read Books in order to create a favorable atmosphere for reading.
In order to help them learn how to read, schools are encouraged to open reading classes as a support for main subjects. Textbooks and high school and college entrance exams have all been reformed, signifying that only sticking to textbooks is not sufficient.
Yet in the internet era, there has always been a conflict between brick-and-mortar bookstores and online bookstores. With the former losing readers in the last few years, how they can survive has become a major question.
To address this problem, the Chinese government has extended strong support to brick-and-mortar bookstores.
For example, the Beijing municipal government has played a pivotal role in supporting the increase in bookstores' quality and quantity.
Since 2019, an annual subsidy of 100,000 yuan ($14,530) was provided to nearly 1,000 brick-and-mortar bookstores in Beijing, the city's authorities said. Additionally, the local government also encouraged bookstores to move onto e-commence platforms to expand their sales.
"These supportive policies have boosted the confidence of brick-and-mortar bookstores, and raised public awareness on the importance of reading," a bookstore manager said.
With the vigorous support of the Beijing government, the number of bookstores has continuously increased since 2016. In 2022, more than 30,000 reading activities were launched, involving 20 million people in Beijing.
Although digital books have become more popular, printed books remain a favorite way of reading for many readers. According to reports, from April 15 to 16, the number of visits to the Beijing Book Fair reached 200,000.
A woman who took her daughter to the fair said, "The best advantage of the book fair is to see and touch books."
"Compared to online reading, printed books give me a sense of knowledge. And bookstores provide a rich cultural atmosphere that you can immerse yourself in," said a university student in Beijing.
During the Spring Festival 2023, a record 4 million printed books were sold, according to the manager of the Beijing Books Building.
China is a nation that loves reading. All the ancient sages advocated reading, particularly Confucius.
Today, the Chinese government is calling for people from all walks of life to read as it can cultivate their minds and build their reading ability so as to increase the nation's cultural literacy. Moreover, it pays particular attention to inspiring young people to read to inherit the spirit of Chinese civilization and build the strength of the Chinese nation.
The next step will be to promote the high-quality development of reading for the Chinese people by providing a routine reading atmosphere with personalized services in order to build a culturally advanced country.
