A customer wearing a face mask browses through the books at a bookstore that was converted from an old factory. At the Xinhua Road sub district in East China's Shanghai, April 19, 2020. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - A recent survey showed that 94.5 percent of the respondents plan to read more books in the rest of 2020, the China Youth Daily reported Thursday.  

Answers from 2,006 people polled showed that 93.1 percent of them had some reading recently, and 41.3 percent said they finished reading more than three books over the last year, according to the Beijing-based newspaper.

The survey also revealed that 47 percent of the respondents mostly read e-books, and 29.5 percent often chose traditional books, it added.

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Staff members recommend books via livestream at a bookstore in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on April 22, 2020. (PHOTO / SIPA VIA CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

"I would choose e-books for novels as the reading is mainly for recreation, but I stick to printed versions for books requiring more thinking," said Wang Zilin, a 28-year-old reader who had finished five books since February as she found more time to read amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

In addition, over 75 percent of respondents agreed that reading helps enrich their lives, and 66 percent said it increases their knowledge, the survey showed.

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This April 20, 2020 photo shows the interior of a Zhongshuge bookstore in Beijing. (PHOTO / SIPA VIA CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

"The influence of reading is gradual but profound," said Lu Qi, an employee of a public institution based in Beijing.

Thursday marks the annual World Book Day, an event initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to promote reading, publishing and copyright.

A man takes photos of the interior of a Yanjiyou bookstore in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on Dec 19, 2018. (PHOTO / SIPA VIA CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

This April 20, 2020 shows an area for children to read at a Zhongshuge bookstore in Beijing. (PHOTO / SIPA VIA CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

A view of one of Zhongshuge bookstores in Shanghai on Sept 27, 2018. (PHOTO / SIPA VIA CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

This photo shows the interior of a Zhongshuge bookstore in Chongqing on March 19, 2019. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINADAILY.COM.CN