The demand for children's books will continue to grow now that the Chinese government has decided to allow all couples to have two children. Photos by Gao Erqiang / China Daily

A new survey about the reading behavior of young people in China was recently released at the third edition of the China Children’s Book Fair (CCBF).

Among the findings is the fact that people in China aged below 17 read much more than adults — since 2010, China’s adolescents aged between 14 and 17 read an average of 9.5 to 13.5 books every year, excluding textbooks, while children between the ages of nine and 13 read six to nine books a year.

The survey also revealed that, though the “reading taste” of China’s young people can still be improved, China’s publishing sector for young readers have grown by 10 percent every year in the past decade.

Thanks to the increased cultural exchanges between the East and West, outstanding new publications for children have been translated and published in China within a short time, while a growing group of authors in children’s literature is steadily being formed in China and is winning recognition from young readers.

The demand for children's books will continue to grow now that the Chinese government has decided to allow all couples to have two children. Photos by Gao Erqiang / China Daily

While The Berestain Bears, a series of children’s books created by American authors and illustrators Stan and Jan Berenstain, is 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 the ranks. Others such as the Chinese author only known by his pen name Leon Image, have achieved great success with his series of original adventure books featuring a child detective and a dog named “Charlie IX”.

The survey also indicated that between 3 to 8 million children will be born every year now that the Chinese government has decided to allow all couples to bear two children, and this in turn translates to “a larger consumers market” for children’s books.

In this digital age, children’s reading platforms have expanded to include audio books as well, and start-up web companies such as iDaddy.cn are steadily drawing paid users. According to iDaddy.cn, the demand for stories in English has continued to grow, and this has encouraged the company to “make big steps” in buying more content from abroad, said Lu Ying, the marketing director of the company.

zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn