A Dangdang bookstore in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province Photo: VCG

Ahead of the coming World Book Day on Thursday, the 17th national reading survey was launched on Monday. It found that more than 10 percent of Chinese people read books for over one hour a day in 2019 and Chinese adults have seen a rise in the time they spend reading digitally, although the amount of time they spend reading printed books has declined.

Some Chinese writers including Ma Boyong, author of "The Longest Day in Chang'an," and celebrities called on netizens to read more high-quality books on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo through short videos. They also joined in a reading challenge under the hashtag of World Book Day.

This year's World Book Day is coming despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Life under lockdown has given people more time to read books. The related hashtag of the reading challenge has been viewed more than 130 million times on Sina Weibo.

"The pandemic promotes reading time and quality. Many classics such as 'Ulysses' have become popular and this is also the effect of isolation," Zhang Yiwu, a professor at Peking University, told the Global Times on Tuesday. "The isolation time allows people to calm the mind and think about some complicated books."

Zhang said thanks to China's convenient delivery system, people who prefer reading printed books can get them although they are stuck at home and cannot go to bookstores. "Those who are used to reading digitally can also find many masterpieces on diverse digital platforms."

Some of China's physical bookstores have even allied themselves with online food delivery companies to deliver books. A total of 30 physical bookstores under the Xinhua Media umbrella throughout 16 districts in East China's Shanghai Municipality began cooperating with ele.me, a Chinese online platform offering a variety of delivery services including food delivery, on Friday.

Offline bookstores in Beijing also started delivery services by cooperating with another similar platform, Meituan-Dianping. The first 72 bookstores have been launched on Meituan takeout, meaning that customers get the book they want about 30 minutes after placing an order, according to China Youth Daily.

"I prefer reading printed books as I can write down what I think directly on paper. When staying at home, I have more time to pick which one I want to read and to truly finish reading them," Wan Fang, 26, who lives in Beijing, told the Global Times.

Before reading, Wan found some recommendation videos for books online and picked the ones she found interesting. "The video platforms like bilibili.com have many such videos for readers like me who are confused in front of countless books."

Zhang also said that more book recommendation videos have been launched on these platforms, which is one of the factors promoting reading quality and quantity.

"Although the number provided by some surveys or reports about Chinese people's reading time is not very high, the whole reading situation of the country is improving, especially young people's reading capability and desire," Zhang said.

Book sales across the UK have also leapt, because readers have found extra time to read when they stay at home, and sales of some lengthy modern novels saw a boost, local media reports said.