Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

THE 2026 National Reading Week • Shenzhen event kicked off yesterday with a wide-ranging ceremony that underscored the city’s push to integrate artificial intelligence into literacy efforts.

The weeklong event, running until Sunday, marks the first observance since the National Reading Promotion Regulations took effect in February, designating the fourth week of April as National Reading Week and putting reading promotion on a legal, long-term footing.

At the launch inside the Shenzhen Book City CBD Store, organizers released the Shenzhen National Reading Development Report 2026 via an AI interactive video hosted by a digital human. The report spans 26 papers across six sections, including annual reviews, digital reading trends and Asia-Pacific cooperation. It tracks the city’s library network, branded reading programs and public literacy metrics.

Xu Yangsheng, a Chinese Academy of Engineering academician and president of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, delivered a keynote address on Reading in the AI Era, drawing on decades of research and education experience.

“I am an avid reader. I read everything. And I have visited all seven stores of Shenzhen Book City,” Xu told the audience. “Whenever friends from other cities or countries visit, I bring them to these stores to show them how different they are.”

He argued that AI makes reading more vital, not less. “Reading is the anchor of our lives,” Xu said, adding that material and spiritual paths must advance together. He called reading the source of thought: “If robots are gradually evolving into ‘humans’ in the AI era, we want humans to evolve into higher beings — thoughtful, reflective people.”

He also described reading as “the most important source of happiness,” urging a return to deep reading as a lifelong companion.

The university’s School of Artificial Intelligence launched the AI Reading Research Center, which will focus on four areas: building theoretical systems for public reading, big-data analysis of reading behavior, integrating digital culture with tourism, and fostering AI literacy.

At the event, Shenzhen also introduced a paperless borrowing service using electronic social security cards, eliminating the need for separate library cards across the city’s library network.

With the city preparing to host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November, the reading week unveiled four themed reading routes for young APEC visitors: tech-innovation, mountain-sea, park and design. Stops include Eyes of the GBA, Egret Slope Book Bar, Lighthouse Library, and the 24-Hour Book Bar.

In a cross-cultural moment, Russian sinologist Ilya Kanaev and students from Shenzhen and abroad recited classical Chinese poems — Yan Zhenqing’s “Exhortation to Study” and Weng Sen’s “The Joy of Reading in Four Seasons, Spring.”

The city also launched an expanded initiative to bring reading year-round into schools, government offices, communities, companies, and families.

According to the 2025 edition of the Shenzhen National Reading Development Report, residents read an average of 22 books per person annually, with the adult comprehensive reading rate holding above 96%. Per-capita book purchases, annual reading volume and digital reading time continue to lead nationally.