East China's Zhejiang province released the 2019 Zhejiang Residents' Reading Report at the launch ceremony for the annual reading festival in the provincial capital of Hangzhou on Aug 8.

According to the report, Zhejiang had a total of 3,361 public libraries as of the end of 2019, excluding the Zhejiang Library and its affiliates. Hangzhou has 1,930 libraries, ranking first among all Zhejiang cities. Ningbo, with 443 libraries, took second place.

As of the end of last year, there were 5,619 Zhejiang-based bookstores and book bars. The five cities in Zhejiang with the greatest number of such stores were Ningbo (1,449), Wenzhou (828), Jinhua (722), Taizhou (697), and Huzhou (697).

Zhejiang residents read 5.32 paper books, 23.82 newspapers, 2.12 journals, and 3.99 electronic books on average in 2019. They read more books and journals but fewer newspapers than before: an average Zhejiang resident read 4.98 paper books, 31.61 newspapers, 1.41 journals, and 3.85 electronic books in 2018.

Zhejiang residents are more likely to read books than their compatriots in other Chinese provinces, as an average Chinese person read 4.65 paper books and 2.84 electronic books in 2019.

Public libraries across the province rented out a total of 66.72 million books in 2019, meaning that Zhejiang residents borrowed 1.15 books per person.

To promote reading, Zhejiang has been building public reading spaces near residential communities, giving people access to free reading services in walking distance of their homes.

These reading spaces are playing an increasingly important role in Zhejiang residents' lives. For example, Wenzhou's 88 urban reading spaces served a total of 9.24 million readers, who borrowed 8.18 million books in 2019.

Zhejiang's public libraries are encouraging readers to borrow books through the mobile app Alipay, which stores their personal credit record and waives deposits. In 2019, a total of 164,952 Hangzhou readers borrowed 840,446 books using Alipay.

Attendees of the launch ceremony for the annual reading festival unveil an annual list of highly-regarded books. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]