Northeast China's Liaoning Province is due to start in October the nation's first online reading channel featuring both publishing information and retail book sales.

The new channel, established by North Book Store under Liaoning Provincial Publishing Group and Northeast Network, will provide fast and handy service for readerships.

North Book Store is the No. 1 bookstore in northeast China and the second biggest in the country. The Northeast Network is the most influential portal in Liaoning province.

All major China-based portals have reading channels, but only offer publishing information, never setting foot in the online retail market. The sporadic existing e-commerce bookstores lack crucial authoritative information.

The new channel will take the advantage of North Book Store's wealth of information and diversified channels of distribution as well as Northeast Network's web-based technologies. It will become a crucial platform for spreading advanced culture, says its founders.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2005)