Publishers eye new generation

Youth show growing appetite for reading

A new survey on the reading behavior of young people in China was released at the third edition of the China Children's Book Fair recently.

Among the findings is the fact that Chinese younger than 17 read much more than adults.

Since 2010, Chinese ages 14 to 17 read an average of 9.5 to 13.5 books every year, excluding textbooks, while children ages 9 to 13 read six to nine books a year.

The survey also showed that the market catering to young readers has grown by 10 percent every year in the past decade.

Meanwhile, due to increased cultural exchanges between East and West, new publications for children are being translated and published in China much quicker, and a group of authors of children's literature is steadily forming in China and is winning recognition from young readers.

While The Berestain Bears, a series of children's books created by American authors and illustrators Stan and Jan Berenstain, has been among the most popular books for Chinese children in the past year, China's own authors such as Zheng Yuanjie, Yang Hongying and Qin Wenjun have been quickly rising up the ranks.

Others, such as the Chinese author only known by his pen name Leon Image, have also achieved great success with his series of adventure books featuring a child detective and a dog named Charlie IX.

Separately, as children's reading platforms have expanded to include audio books, startup Web companies such as iDaddy.cn are also steadily drawing more paid users.

Demand for stories in English is growing, and this has encouraged iDaddy.cn to "take big steps" in buying more content from abroad, says Lu Ying, marketing director of the company.