BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Electronic books, e-bookstores and digital libraries are becoming more popular in China.

    A national survey on people's reading habits in the Internet era, conducted by Beijing Founder Electronic Co. Ltd affiliated to Beijing University and a national newspaper called China Information World, showed 27.8 percent of Chinese citizens were accustomed to reading books and articles on the Internet in 2005, while the figures in 1999 and 2003 were 3.7 percent and 18.3 percent respectively.

    China currently has 110 million netizens and the number is growing steadily.

    To feed citizens' increasing e-reading needs, publishing houses are cooperating with websites, mobile phone suppliers and telecommunications operators. China has more than 400 publishing houses operating on-line publishing businesses.

    Dai Longji, curator of Beijing University library, said the borrowing of e-books is constantly increasing in his library. The problem is the number and the content of e-books cannot satisfy readers' needs. He suggested bookstores establish electronic bookstores on the Internet as soon as possible to meet readers' needs.

    The popularity of online-reading has begun to affect the circulation of newspapers and magazines in the country, according to reports. A number of newspapers and magazines have reported the decline in advertisement revenue. Enditem