Online reading increasing among Chinese

Beijing, April 24 (IANS) While indicating a declining reading rate of newspapers and magazines, a survey in China has found only half of the Chinese read a little and only 1.2 percent of the people claim to be reading a lot, an increasing number of them online.

The study conducted by the National Reading Survey conducted in 2011 found, 21.2 percent of the respondents saying that they were satisfied with their reading volume while 20.9 percent were not satisfied and the remaining 57.9 percent had moderate feelings about their reading volume, the China Daily reported.

According to the survey published by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication, 38.6 percent people read on digital instruments including computers, mobile phones, E-book appliances, and discs.

It was found in 2011, as many as 29.9 percent of Chinese read online and 27.6 percent read on mobile phones, both witnessing an increase compared to 2010.

Book reading rate in 2011 was 53.9 percent, 1.6 percentage more than 2010. Newspaper reading rate was 63 percent and that of magazines was 41.3 percent, down by 3.7 and 5.6 percentage points compared to 2010, it was found.

According to Hao Zhensheng, director of the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication, traditional reading plays an important role among Chinese people.

There are many rural, middle-aged and senior people in China who are still linked to traditional books, he added.

About the falling reading rate of newspapers and magazines, member researcher of the survey Xu Shengguo says that it does not suggest that newspapers and magazines are declining but that they are being surpassed by digital media.