According to the latest survey by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication, Chinese adults read an average of 4.65 print books in 2019, slightly lower than 4.67 in 2018.

Fan Deng, a previous well-known TV host, can sense the potential in the new business of recommending books to busy office workers and "reading" the books to interested readers via a mobile application.

Early in 2013, Fan began to share his book notes with fans and friends on a social media group noticing that people were increasingly squeezed for time to read.

As his fan base grew, Fan quit his job and set up a book club to invite both ordinary readers and industry experts to share their reading experience.

Fan's Spiritual Wealth Club now has 35 million members worldwide, mostly Chinese readers and overseas readers interested in Chinese culture. Fan said, "most club members are born in the 1980s and 1990s as they are more willing to pay for new knowledge and skills."

Leisure reading can bring people with life-long benefits, Fan said. "If you are too busy to read, a simpler way to start might be to listen to an audio-book, so it's never a bad time to start."