The 20th Hong Kong Book Fair ended on Tuesday with a record of 900,000 visitors, up 8 percent compared with a year earlier, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) said.

HKTDC Assistant Executive Director Raymond Yip said consumer spending power did not seem to be affected by the global economic turmoil, with close to 60 percent of consumers spending more than or as much as they did last year, according to the first reading habits survey commissioned by the HKTDC.

"To many Hong Kong people, visiting the Hong Kong Book Fair each summer has become a habit," said Yip, noting that 70 percent of the interviewees are frequent visitors who took part in at least three past editions of the event.

According to the survey, about 60 percent of Hong Kong people spend five hours or more per week in reading, some 40 percent purchase books more than once a month. The average amount of money Hong Kong people spend on books each year is 2,071 HK dollars (267 U.S. dollars).

The survey also found 74 percent of the interviewees had used an Internet portal for reading and 42 percent of them had read e-books, while 16 percent and 6 percent used mobile phones and i-pods respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2009)