China sees rising collections in public libraries

File Photo: Readers are seen at a reading room of the National Library of China in Beijing, capital of China, May 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

Nearly 1.12 billion volumes of books were collected by public libraries in China by the end of 2019, up 7.3 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The number of e-books rose 7 percent to around 866 million by 2019, said the ministry's annual report.

By the end of 2019, China had 3,196 public libraries, up 20 from the previous year. The number of total visits to public libraries increased 9.9 percent to around 901 million in 2019, according to the statistics.