China faces a reading crisis

People prefer buying books online than from brick-and-mortar bookstores in recent years. [File photo]

Xu added that in addition to factors such as the large population base in China and imbalance in regional economic development, the shortage of public libraries is widespread. Reading parties in the community are in need of greater promotion.

Wang pointed out that people in Beijing read 9.47 books each year on average other than text books, which ranks first in China. But even such quantity is much lower than Israel where 64 books is normal.

"Chinese scholars and officials have been wringing their hands over the country's declining interest in reading. If we want to promote the nationwide reading rate, we have to encourage more grassroots to read. Not only should we read more books, but also share books with others, to attract more people to join the team of reading," Wang said.

Lin stressed the importance of parents and children reading together, and called on parents to read with their children for 15 minutes every day.

"It is significant for the healthy growth of the younger generation if their parents read with them every day. It also lays the foundation for nationwide reading in future. However, parents should not teach their children what to read or how to read. Instead, they should train their children to gain happiness from reading," Lin said.