Chinese seek new ways to read

Booming book recycling

Li Yang, a student in Beijing, used to be plagued by piles of books as her dormitory is too small.

The predicament was addressed when she started to sell the used books on an online second-hand bookstore Deja Vu. She has sold 50 books, earning more than 300 yuan (about $45).

"By selling them, most of my books which used to gather dust in the corner can come to life again," she said.

According to a survey by e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2018, the market for the second-hand book was booming last year as more Chinese tend to trade or exchange their used books online.

Among the surveyed, citizens in Guangdong ranked first, with 1.59 second-hand books being traded or given per capita in 2018, followed by Shanghai and Beijing.

The rise of online second-hand book platforms and sharing ideas also contributed to the flourishing book recycling.

Deja Vu is one of the emerging online platforms providing readers with convenient and efficient access to second-hand books.

Users are able to sell their books by scanning the barcode of books and then wait the courier to collect them. The collected books will be cleaned, disinfected and packed before selling to other readers at a lower price.

According to Deja Vu, its total users hit 1.4 million in 2018, with 2 million used books being sold. It registered a daily transaction of 20,000 books.

"When I see my books being read by others, I can feel a pleasure of sharing, which is really amazing," Li Yang said.