Thaindian News

Beijing, Apr 23 (ANI): A majority of Chinese people are turning to digital reading as compared to printed books or magazines, according to the Eighth National Reading Survey.

The survey conducted by Chinese Academy of Press and Publication, also showed that the number of Chinese readers using digital media dramatically increased last year.

Nearly 23 percent of respondents read books via mobile phones, 3.9 via e-book readers, 18 percent on the Internet and another 2.6 percent by PDA (personal digital assistant)/MP4/electronic dictionaries, according to the survey.

The survey covering 19,418 respondents showed that out of the various media for digital reading, e-book reading saw the highest increase, rising by 200 percent compared with 2009.

According to China Daily, it found that readers aged between 18 to 70 spent about 42 minutes daily reading online.

It also showed that users spent about 3 Yuan on reading via mobile phone monthly, and that more than half of China’s mobile phone readers were rural residents due to a lack of other reading sources.

“E-books are a good rival to printed books and magazines. They can force traditional publications to produce even better quality works of literature,” said Hao Zhensheng, the academy’s director.

Another survey in Guangzhou found that 77 percent of respondents liked reading e-books because of the ease of searching and downloading on the Internet.

In addition, over 21 percent of respondents learnt about books via the Internet, according to the survey. (ANI)