Source: CCTV.com

05-11-2009 09:21

E-book reading has become a popular trend in the US and Europe. And Amazon's e-book reader, Kindle, is a big hit. However, the e-book market in China still lags far behind.

E-book reading has become a popular trend in the US and Europe.  And Amazon's e-book reader, Kindle, is a big hit.

At the Beijing Spring Book Fair there are hundreds of publishers, but very few of them are selling books in digital format. Print books rule the market. But young consumers are showing interest in digital reading.

A Beijing resident, said, "I quite like ebooks. Now is the time of the information society. Having an ebook reader is very convenient as you can carry it anywhere. Many MP3 and MP4 players also have ebook functions."

"I can easily download ebooks from the Internet, and read them from my mobile phone."

Whether on computers, MP4 players, or mobile phones, China's digital readers have become a huge consumer market numbering around 79-million. But both the content and e-book reader markets are failing to meet the demand.

"Digital books that are available online are often old ones. Some newly-published best-selling books are often not available in ebook formats. So if we want new books, we have to buy the print version."

The National Library in Beijing makes e-book readers available to its members. They can download hundreds of digital books, similar to Amazon's Kindle, which is not yet on sale in China due to patent concerns.

Shao Yan, from Digital Sharing Space of National Library, said, "A lot of our members borrow the ebook readers. Not only young people, but also older people are interested in them. They want to experience the new way of reading."

Though people like them, most cannot afford them. The National Library says each e-book reader costs thousands of yuan, and so they can only be used inside the library. The library is working on the development of digital readers and hopes to provide take-home service soon.

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Editor:Liu Anqi