READING ON WECHAT
Reading via WeChat, a popular messaging app, is a new choice for many people, especially subway commuters.
Fu Wei, a 26-year-old programmer, likes to read articles shared by his WeChat friends. "We are too busy to read books as thick as bricks," he said. "WeChat articles that carry plenty of information are more accessible to us."
A total of 62.4 percent of adults surveyed by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication read via WeChat in 2016, up 10.5 percentage points from a year before. Each person spent an average of 26 minutes reading on WeChat each day.
The trend of reading via WeChat goes hand-in-hand with increased reading on mobile phones. The survey revealed that 66.1 percent of respondents read on their mobile phones in 2016.
Chinese people read 7.86 books each in 2016, including 3.21 e-books.
"Mobile phones make it very easy for people to read. However, we should be aware that we fragment the time we spend on reading," said Zhang Yiwu, professor at Peking University.
Writer Liu Cixin has also noticed a shift from reading on paper to reading on screen, but he believes that what one reads has nothing to do with how one reads. "The most important thing is to encourage people to read books that inspire them, build their knowledge, and raise their sensibilities," he said.
