40 years on

Editor’s Note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up policy.

The Beijing Book Building opened to the public on May 8, 1998. It was the country’s largest book retailer at that time with a floor area of 50,000 square meters.

The image in China Daily (right) shows book lovers flocking to the bookstore on its opening day.

One year later, the bookstore opened an online shop, with a growing number of people turning to tablets or smartphones for information.

Last year, it launched a bookselling robot, which can help readers search, recommend and pay for books.

With technology such as artificial intelligence and the internet, the bookstore provides readers a brand-new reading environment.

Like the Beijing Book Building, physical bookstores have changed in their business models and operations to attract readers.

The latest survey on reading habits from the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication showed 73 percent of adult respondents read digitally, including online, mobile, digital readers and smart pads, last year, while the proportion was less than 25 percent in 2009.

In recent years, digital reading has grown steadily across the country, according to the academy.