Digital Wave

4 Aug 2010 - A digital revolution is overthrowing China's traditional reading habits. The total value of digital publications - on the internet, mobile phones, e-books and computer based reading software - overtook that of traditional print publications on the mainland for the first time last year, according to a report by the General Administration of Press and Publication. At the same time, a recent nation wide survey found that nearly a quarter of the more than 20,000 people it surveyed, aged between 18 and 70, now read primarily in digital forms. Note, that 50% of those under 29 read digital content. One of the casualties is a well known bookshop in Guangzhou, Joint Publishing (HK), which announced it would shut its flagship store, citing high rent, a lack of customers and changing reading habits. Sadly, it is also one of the few bookstores in the mainland with a wide collection of foreign books.