Taking Solid Steps to Promote a Reading Culture

The Chinese nation has long placed great value on reading, holding the belief that there is something to be gained from every book one opens. Reading is an essential means of acquiring knowledge, sharpening the mind, and fostering virtues. If reading shapes an individual’s character and broadens their vision, then the reading habits of the public shape a nation’s intellectual caliber and creative vitality. A nation that champions reading will stay confident and self-reliant and continue to thrive; a country with a reading culture will produce talent and brim with vitality.

President Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the importance of fostering a reading culture, choosing quality books to read, and reading them well. In his congratulatory letter to the first National Conference on Reading on April 23, 2022, he elaborated on the important role that reading plays in the advancement of humanity and the development of the individual. He underscored its importance in carrying forward the enduring spirit of the Chinese people and shaping a confident and strong Chinese nation. He expressed the hope that the whole of society would take part in reading and help cultivate an atmosphere in which all people love reading, choose quality books to read, and read them well.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the vision of fostering reading habits has been fully embraced by the Chinese people. Nationwide reading initiatives have grown in both depth and reach, giving rise to a vibrant reading culture throughout the country. In this process, efforts to foster a reading culture among the public have evolved from fragmented, spontaneous, and short-lived undertakings to multi-tiered, systematic, and sustained endeavors.

The legal foundation for promoting reading has been established, giving shape to a consistent, long-term framework. In recent years, many localities have incorporated the promotion of reading among the public into their local development strategies, thus ensuring strong support in areas such as planning, resource allocation, event organization, and service rollout. Based on local conditions, local authorities have introduced concrete measures to establish a robust framework featuring CPC committee leadership, government guidance, and social participation based on regular and high-quality working mechanisms that are sustainable and effective.

A scene captured at the Digital Reading Forum of the fourth National Conference on Reading and the 11th Annual Digital Reading Conference held in Taiyuan, Shanxi, 2025. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER YANG CHENGUANG

The Regulation on Promoting Reading Among the Public, promulgated in December 2025, sets out requirements for intensifying reading promotion efforts, improving service quality, and strengthening support measures. By turning existing practices, experiences, and approaches into institutional arrangements, these regulations will help ensure that nationwide reading promotion initiatives are carried out on a regular basis, in a well-conceived way, and produce lasting results, thereby laying a solid legal foundation for fostering a culture of reading across society.

Reading initiatives have flourished, giving rise to a rich and widespread reading culture. In recent years, under the overarching banner of Reading in China, localities across the country have launched reading initiatives of their own, with provinces such as Jiangsu, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Gansu all developing distinctively regional initiatives. These regional efforts have built strong momentum for reading promotion and helped foster a reading culture across the country. The National Conference on Reading, hosted by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, has helped forge broad consensus and spurred local authorities and government departments to actively explore and organize reading events with distinctive themes, substantive content, and varied formats. On October 16, 2025, the State Council approved the annual observance of the National Reading Week, to be held in the fourth week of April beginning in 2026—a decision that has further galvanized enthusiasm for reading throughout society. In response, different sectors, localities, and departments have planned reading promotion events that are tailored to their own circumstances, focus on uplifting content, and showcase the depth of Chinese culture. These efforts have significantly expanded the reach and influence of reading promotion initiatives and public engagement.

Reading facilities have reached a considerable scale, paving the way for a service network that is always within reach. Across the country, reading facilities, such as physical bookstores, public libraries, and rural and workplace reading rooms, have been steadily upgraded. Facilities such as new era cultural centers, workers’ cultural palaces, youth palaces, and activity centers for women and children and for seniors have taken steps to augment their reading functions. New types of reading spaces including urban book cafés have also continued to emerge, and reading facilities can now be found in parks, green spaces, transportation hubs, etc. To date, 2,692 counties, county-level cities, and urban districts nationwide have established central-branch library systems, and the total number of new-type urban reading spaces has exceeded 40,000. As reading facilities grow in number across all levels and types and as both reading materials and equipment are upgraded, reading services are reaching ever wider audiences, making reading more accessible than ever.

Reading support has been delivered in a targeted and effective manner, giving shape to an environment characterized by broad participation. To address the reading needs and characteristics of different groups, departments at all levels are providing more targeted reading guidance, offering strong support to special groups, and giving substantial backing to initiatives in rural and remote areas. To foster children’s love and enjoyment of reading, a series of policy documents has been issued, including an action plan to promote reading among young students nationwide, as well as implementation guidelines for the national parent-child reading initiative titled Fostering a Reading Culture in Every Home. Guidelines on Promoting Reading Among Senior Citizens set out concrete measures to create enabling conditions for elderly readers. The Interim Regulations on Providing Works in Accessible Formats to People with Reading Disabilities and other related regulations lay out detailed steps for safeguarding the reading rights of people with disabilities. Ongoing initiatives such as Lighting Up a Small Reading Wish and Rural Reading Season in the New Era are providing continuous support for reading in rural communities. Together, these efforts have steadily enhanced the sense of fulfillment and happiness people are deriving from reading.

Efforts to promote reading among the public have driven a steady rise in the overall reading rate among Chinese adults, a marked increase in China’s reading population, and a further narrowing of the urban-rural reading gap. According to the 22nd national reading survey, the overall reading rate among adults climbed from 78.6% in 2014 to 82.1% in 2024. Nevertheless, it is important to recognize that efforts to promote reading among the public are still fraught with many shortcomings and face a range of new problems and challenges. We still have work to do to improve people’s reading volume, habits, and skills.

Some of the issues we face are as follows: Digital reading and traditional reading have yet to be effectively integrated, and a rich, substantive reading culture has yet to fully take root. Reading habits among children and adolescents require better guidance and cultivation. The book reading rate among minors still trailed leading international benchmarks as of 2024, standing at 86.6%. Concerted efforts by schools, families, and society are therefore needed to create a better reading environment for children and youth. Reading conditions and facilities for urban migrant workers also need improvement, while the reading materials and services available to people with disabilities remain insufficient, with stronger reading support required. Western regions and rural areas face a relative lack of reading facilities and resources, and physical bookstores have yet to fulfill their role in promoting reading among the public.

A nation with a rich reading culture has a future; a nation that values books and reading has hope. At a time when digital and smart technologies are sweeping the globe and knowledge is evolving with increasing speed, reading has become more important than ever. It is therefore increasingly urgent to foster good reading habits, advance reading ability, and improve the quality of reading. This is vital not only for enhancing cultural literacy and raising the overall level of social civility, but also for cultivating the innovative and creative capacity of the entire nation.

Providing consistent and clear reading guidance

We will commit major efforts to promoting reading of publications on advanced socialist culture, revolutionary culture, and the best of traditional Chinese culture, continue to champion the core socialist values, and encourage people to draw greater inspiration from and pursue moral cultivation through reading. With a stronger audience awareness and a closer focus on results, we will continue to explore new platforms and approaches for themed reading initiatives and refine the formats through which these initiatives reach the public. We will strive to help CPC members, officials, and the general public more closely identify with the CPC’s innovative theories on a political, intellectual, theoretical, and emotional level.

Ensuring a continuous flow of high-quality content

We will work to improve publishing standards by strengthening guidance on values, content selection, and quality control, so as to produce more outstanding works that are distinguished by intellectual depth, artistic excellence, and exquisite production craftsmanship. Such high-quality publications will in turn help spark people’s passion for reading and elevate reading tastes. We will enrich the content, channels, and formats of publication, refine the publishing structure, and ensure a continuous supply of quality reading materials for people by implementing the plans for national key publications, major publishing projects, and similar initiatives, so as to better meet people’s diverse and multifaceted reading needs across a wide range of genres. We will improve the selection and recommendation of outstanding publications, leverage the exemplary role of awards such as the Five-One Project for awarding outstanding literary and artistic works and the Chinese Government Award for Publishing, and enhance critical reviews and recommendations to ensure that more excellent books reach readers.

Working persistently to refine reading promotion initiatives

When it comes to reading, people’s preferences and interests vary enormously. To make further progress in promoting reading among the public, we need to delve into the reading needs and characteristics of different age groups, social cohorts, and genders. By pinpointing and responding to readers’ interests and concerns, we can promote reading in a way that is tailored to specific audiences. Promoting reading among children and adolescents must be our top priority. We should deepen our understanding of how children and adolescents read and apply this in practice to encourage reading at home, parent-child reading, and reading in schools. Our aim should be to foster a family reading culture, build reading-friendly campuses, and provide help and encouragement to ensure young people can enjoy reading and grow up well-rounded. We will pay close attention to reading initiatives for CPC members and officials, and help them lead by example and approach reading as a way of life, a work responsibility, and a personal aspiration. Through sustained promotion targeting specific audiences, we will see that reading becomes a genuine part of daily life among all groups in society.

Making a sustained commitment to strengthening reading support

We will continue to optimize the distribution of reading facilities, see that they integrate cultural services and resources, and improve reading spaces by supporting the innovative development of physical bookstores, opening new public reading spaces, and developing reading stations and cultural corridors that are woven into everyday life. The goal of these efforts will be to create better reading conditions for different groups. We will pay special attention to supporting the reading needs of groups such as children left behind in rural areas and those living in cities with migrant-worker parents, encouraging schools and private reading promotion institutions to provide regular reading guidance and services. We will support old revolutionary base areas, areas with large ethnic minority populations, and border areas in promoting reading among the public, advance initiatives to promote the use of standard spoken and written Chinese in areas with large ethnic minority populations, and see that the reading needs of these communities are met. We will commit serious efforts to bolstering reading services for people with disabilities and other special groups and make full use of resources such as braille publications and audio books. By providing high-quality content and first-rate services, we will ensure broader and better reading support for all.

Dedicating enduring efforts to fostering a culture of reading

We will mobilize the energy, initiative, and creativity of all sectors of society to launch a wide range of reading promotion initiatives for the public, so as to get more people involved in reading and help them find joy in it, feel its charm, and understand its true meaning. We will meticulously organize National Reading Week and host the National Conference on Reading, with a view to amplifying the synergy generated by such events and leveraging their exemplary and leading role. We will encourage local authorities to draw on regional resources and cultural strengths to develop their own distinctive reading programs. Such efforts will further strengthen the Reading in China initiative. Furthermore, we will promote reading activities in enterprises, rural areas, government offices, campuses, communities, military units, and online platforms. This will help ensure that the appreciation of reading takes deeper root among the public and foster a thriving reading atmosphere throughout society.

Taking solid action to improve the effectiveness of our work

We will effectively implement the regulation on promoting reading among the public, working out specific steps to translate its provisions into action. We will strengthen coordination across the board, and set standards and provide guidance on social involvement in efforts to promote reading among the public. We will refine the long-term mechanism for promoting reading nationwide featuring CPC committee leadership, government guidance, and social participation. We will also put in place a national network of reading facilities that covers both urban and rural areas, is practical and easy to use, and delivers efficient services, thereby creating an inclusive, accessible, and effective system for promoting reading across the country. We will conduct regular surveys of citizens’ reading habits, improve the performance evaluation framework for reading promotion, and ensure that local governments, relevant departments, and all other relevant parties fulfill their duties in accordance with the law. In addition, new approaches will be adopted and innovative measures introduced to ensure high-quality progress in promoting reading among the public.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 8, 2026)