Faced with the choice of trudging to a downtown bookstore and perusing the shelves or logging on to the Internet from home and reading online, the majority of Chinese are turning to their computers.

That's according to a survey conducted by the Chinese Institute of Publishing Science (CIPS).

The number of Chinese reading books has decreased sharply since 1999, but the number of those turning to the Internet to read has soared sevenfold in the same period, according to the CIPS.

A series of studies conducted by the institute between 1999 and 2006 found that only 48.7 percent of Chinese read at least one book in 2005, down from 60.4 percent in 1999.

In contrast, 27.8 percent of Chinese read at least one book in 2005, a sharp rise compared to 3.7 percent in 1999.

The number of online readers has doubled every year since 1999. "The development of digital technology and the Internet has changed people's reading habits," Wu Shulin, vice-minister of the General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP), told a forum on video and electronic products on Thursday in Shanghai.

Chinese read about 4.5 books every year on average, far fewer than the 50 books read by Americans in a year.

Lack of free time amid fast-paced modern lifestyles was the main reason given by most of the respondents for not reading many books.

Researchers also found that the culture of reading has declined, with 45.9 percent of young respondents aged 18 to 19 saying they are not in the habit of reading.

Literature and publishing experts have voiced their concern about the decline of reading in China.

Huang Guorong, deputy secretary-general of the China Publication Association, told China Youth Daily that online reading materials are mainly for fun and fail to educate people in the same way that books do.

A group of National People's Congress deputies even put forward a motion last month for a National Reading Day to promote people's awareness.

(China Daily April 14, 2007)