Post-80s are China's bookworms

A reader asks a question at a readers meeting of Chinese host Bai Yansong, who is promoting his new book Baishuo(Bai says) in Jinan, East China's Shandong province on June 9, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Chinese people born in the 1980s are the country's largest online consumers of paper books – 54 times that of those born in the 90s.

According to a report by E-commerce retailer Dangdang, the "consumption volume" among post-80s Chinese is also nine times that of post-70s, and a staggering 169 times that of post-60s.

Chen Lijun, vice president of Dangdang, says while the report shows post-80s have become the pillar of book consumption, it doesn't mean people in other age groups don't read, rather, "there's the preferences in book consuming".

The survey also revealed some interesting findings about the content and reading habits of the post-80s readers.

As reported, "success" and "motivation" topped the list of key search words among this group. Management books were also popular. These findings coincide with others from Amazon.com, whose vice president Shi Jianjun said history and economic books were the favored books.

"Most of the readers read before bedtime, and they would read some professional books like The Mckinsey Way and Stock Exchange," Shi said.

Amazon.com sales also reveal parenting and tutorial books, especially those for kids aged 0-6 years, account for a large portion of the books purchased by post-80s readers.

The 80s Chinese also pay a lot of attention to a book's layout, as well as the publisher's reputation. The report shows that even for e-books, the age group had a stronger tendency towards spending money on more delicate fonts.

In terms of the reading time, most of the 80s respondents said they read before going to bed, while about 40 percent read during their commute. It seems 80s readers are best at making full use of their time.

The paper book market in China rebounded modestly in 2015, with the consumption volume rising to 58.4 percent, a slight 0.4 percent increase, compared to 2014.