Today marks World Book Day. A 2017 survey of reading habits has been released by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication, and the numbers are slightly up! It says that over 80 percent of Chinese people are fostering a reading habit -  with either paperback books, e-books or on their cellphones. Here's more. 

The rate of reading books among Chinese people has increased slightly compared to 2016. Adults read almost 8 books a year on average.

WEI YUSHAN, DIRECTOR: CHINESE ACADEMY OF PRESS & PUBLICATION "More and more Chinese people are reading. When the first edition of the survey was conducted in 1999, the rate of reading books was less than 60%. We see the growth as a result of government efforts to promote reading."

Digital reading is growing steadily. 73% of adults read digitally, including online, mobile, digital readers and smart pads. Cellphones have become the most popular reading platform. Adults spent some 80 minutes a day on their smartphones in 2017, a more than six-minute increase from 2016. The survey also shows that Chinese people read more paper books than e-books. On average, people read 4.6 paper books and 3.1 e-books.

The reading habit of the younger generation is always the focus of the survey. It reveals that 85% of children and teenagers under 17 had reading habits in 2017.

It was people from the age group of 14 to 17 years who read the highest number of books in the year: some 11 books on average, excluding textbooks. Over 70% of Chinese families with children had a habit of reading for, or together with the kids. It's the academy's 15th survey since 2003. The purpose of the survey is to serve readers better and provide better public services.