467 Million Chinese Read Online Literature in 2020: Report

Customers read e-books at a cafe in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province. [Photo by Wang Luxian / For China Daily]

CHONGQING - A total of 467 million Chinese read online literature in 2020, according to an industry report released by the China Writers Association on Wednesday.

Approximately 28 million Chinese literary works have been published online by the end of last year, according to the 2020 Blue Book of China's Online Literature issued at an online literature forum in Chongqing Municipality.

The report said works of realistic genres, including those on the battle against COVID-19, healthcare and poverty alleviation, figured prominently in last year's new works. Such works accounted for over 60 percent of the around 2 million newly contracted online works last year.

Online Chinese literature also saw a greater overseas presence in 2020, the annual report said. By 2020, more than 10,000 online literary works had entered overseas markets and attracted over 100 million foreign readers.