Within one week, the sales of the digital version of the novel increased by 191 times, while for printed copies, the increase was 21 times, according to Amazon China.

In a related development, Chinese are increasingly willing to pay for knowledge, taking online courses, which, in turn, has prompted the sales of books ranging from business and skill training information to literature and history.

Also, Huang Zhizhong, the author of Speaking Well: Fresh and Interesting Skills for the Art of Speaking, has gained many fans via paid online courses and social network platforms, which has given a boost to the sale of his book.

In another development, a report on China's e-reading habit suggests the number of digital readers in the country exceeded 300 million in 2016.

The report, titled 2016 Chinese Digital Reading White Paper, was released by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association at the Digital Reading Conference China 2017 in April, in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

According to Amazon China, the new reading boom is being fueled as the number of simultaneous published－online and print－works is up nearly 60 percent compared with the previous year.

Consequently, the sales of these titles are up three times over the ones that are not simultaneously released.