ChinAfrica

Complement­ary roles

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With smartphone­s and e-readers becoming more common, some worry that the days of paper books could be numbered. But as a recent survey shows, traditiona­l print books are still popular among Chinese readers.

On average, each Chinese read 7.86 books last year, including 4.65 printed books and 3.21 e-books, according to the 14th National Reading Survey released by Chinese Academy of Press and Publicatio­n (CAPP) in April.

This nationwide survey, covering 52 cities across China, showed that Chinese still preferred printed books to e-books, with 51.6 percent of the respondent­s saying they preferred to “hold a printed book” in their hands to reading on mobile phones (33.8 percent), on computers (9.8 percent), and via e-book readers (3.8 percent).

Xu Shengguo, Director of CAPP’S National Reading Research and Promotion Center, believes going back to printed books is a worldwide trend visible in many countries such as the United States, the UK and France.

“Although digital reading is quick and convenient, it’s only suitable for fragmented reading practices, while reading printed books is conducive to in-depth reading,” Xu said, adding that children’s stories, academic reports and classic literature should still be read on paper.

Xu believes printed books are here to stay, not only because of the need for richer informatio­n, but also because many still value the tactile sensation of a bound paper book.

“Paper books are well designed, they look and smell good, and they carry with them a more human touch,” said Li, echoing the feelings of many book lovers around the world. Comments to liujian@chinafrica.cn

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