Citizens and tourists enjoy reading time at Yuxin Bookstore in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province on April 5, 2026. 

With the Regulations on National Reading Promotion officially taking effect this year – designating the fourth week of April as the “National Reading Week,” China has embarked on a profound journey to cultivate a “society steeped in the fragrance of books.” This legislative milestone transforms a long-held cultural aspiration into a concrete, nationwide commitment, guided by President Xi Jinping’s vision that reading is a vital pathway to gain knowledge, find wisdom, and cultivate morality, which is essential for enriching the nation’s spiritual world. 

In this Special Report, we will explore how this vision is being realized across China’s literary landscape. We take readers to visit community libraries and neighborhood bookstores that are bringing culture to people’s doorsteps. We also delve into the digital frontiers of information dissemination with China International Book Trading Corporation, the nation’s oldest book trader, to see how it is building bridges for the world to better understand the real, multi-dimensional country which China is. And we speak with Zang Yongqing, president of the People’s Literature Publishing House, on how China’s flagship literary publisher is bridging timeless classics and online bestsellers through digital innovation to captivate a new generation. 

From the China International Communications Group’s Fuxing Library project supporting rural communities, to the unique reading spaces nestled in Beijing’s hutongs and Wuhu’s neighborhoods, we are witnessing a grassroots movement crafting inclusive literary havens. This report captures a nation not just reading more, but reading smarter – blending digital convenience with the irreplaceable depth of traditional texts.