Chinese Reading Less Books, Surfing Along More
April 21, 2008 | Filed Under Mainland China, Tech | No CommentsThe trusty old paper, as well as its more colorful variant, the mag, are still doing very well in China, with the 5th National Readership Survey coming in with stats of 74.5% and 50%, respectively, in terms of readership. Having said that, though, the Internet has replaced your trusty books as the third most-read item.
China, traditionally a nation of readers, continues to read, but also continues to take the habit online, with 36.5% of the population reading online. Books ar enow down in fourth place, down to 34.7%. The netizens scored a rise of 8.7% over the 2005 stats.
There are over 300,000+ new books hitting the shelves every year in China. However, the readership is dwindling fast. The stats have it that every person buys — on average — just 1.75 (that’s less than two) books a year.
Why is that the case? 69% of those interviewed agree that reading books is important; however, 49.4% say they simply don’t have the time. Books are pricey, too: 56% think that the price is too high. Furthermore, 42.8% of those simply don’t have the time to read.
Indeed, with the great big Web out there, your humble Shakespearean play in the form of a book may soon be read more often in electronic form than on paper…