In response to this reviewer’s April 7 article “Reading: Different strategies work for different people”, a local reader pointed to the Regulations on the Promotion of Nationwide Reading recently coming into effect in China.
Can the law really help promote reading? China, currently the second-largest consumer market, seems determined to make it work. As the Chinese government designated the fourth week of April as the annual National Reading Week, its official news agency announced:
“China has issued its first-ever administrative regulation dedicated to nationwide reading, which outlines measures to boost reading promotions, improve the quality of reading services, and strengthen support systems, providing a solid legal basis for building a society that loves reading.”
Statistics show that, by the end of 2025, there were 3,253 public libraries across China offering free access to readers. The country’s national comprehensive reading rate – measuring the speed at which a person reads with at least 70-80% comprehension – had risen from 76.3% in 2012 to 82.1% in 2024.
(Note: The phrase “national comprehensive reading rate” is mainly used in China and covers books, newspapers and digital content. As a comparison, 75% of the Australian population are considered “general readers” who read at least one book per year in any format.)
Meanwhile, a national reading survey revealed that 82.3% of Chinese adults engaged in reading in 2025, with the combined reading volume in digital and print reaching the average of 8.39 books per person.
Data show that 80.8% of Chinese adults now read digitally, whether it is through e-books, online literature or audiobooks. By the end of 2025, China’s digital reading user base had reached 689 million. Less than half of adults (45.9%) still prefer print books.
The aforementioned national reading survey further revealed that, among those Chinese aged 18 and younger, 86.7% read books, while 75.9% engaged in digital reading.
According to an “ideological and political education” course presentation released early this month, although the average Chinese teenager reads 36.30 minutes per day or 11.65 books per year, these are mainly for schoolwork and tests/exams. Reality is, extracurricular reading and/or reading for pleasure remains rare.
As a countermeasure, China’s Regulations on the Promotion of Nationwide Reading aims to “promote nationwide reading, advance the building of a society of avid readers, enhance the ideological, moral, scientific and cultural qualities of the entire nation, raise the level of civility across society, and promote the building of a leading socialist cultural power”.
The law demands the establishment of reading facilities across the country, mandates schools at all levels to build reading into the curriculum, and requires setup of accessible formats for elderly readers and those with disabilities.
Overall, China’s push for a “society of readers” and “culturally strong nation” is meant to direct its citizens away from video and the mobile screen and back to the printed page. Let’s hope it will work.
Note: This article was published by Ranges Trader Star Mail on April 28, 2026, P.18.
Voices under the Sun 陽光下的聲音 