More than 60 pct of Chinese read via WeChat

BEIJING -- A total of 62.4 percent of Chinese adults read via the popular messaging app WeChat in 2016, up 10.5 percentage points year on year, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

About 68.2 percent of adults read digitally in 2016, up 4.2 percentage points than 2015, while 58.8 percent read paper books, only a 0.4 percentage-point increase, according to an annual poll on reading habits, which was carried out in 52 cities across the country.

The survey, conducted by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication, revealed that 66.1 percent of respondents read on their mobile phones in 2016, up 6.1 percentage points than the previous year.

The average spending of reading on mobile phones was 16.95 yuan ($2.46) per capita in 2016, 5.76 yuan more than the previous year, the survey showed.

A total of 25.2 percent of respondents would accept paid reading on mobile phones, while the rest would only read free of charge.

On average, Chinese read 7.86 books per capita in 2016, including 3.21 e-books, the survey showed.