"I am not exaggerating - reading is now the most important issue in China."

So said Zhu Yongxin, 49, the vice-mayor of Suhou and a professor at Suzhou University.

Zhu made this claim while discussing his proposal to the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) to establish a National Reading Festival.

This marks the third year that the veteran member of the non-communist China Association for Promoting Democracy and CPPCC standing committee has raised the suggestion. He insists that promoting reading among Chinese people remains a serious concern.

Zhu showed a research paper that the Chinese Institute of Publishing Science (CIPS) conducted at the end of 2005, which showed that for the first time less than half the people in China were readers. Among those who said they had "no time" for reading, 54.2 percent were aged between 20-29. And 45.9 percent of the respondents from the 18-19 age group said they were "not used to reading".

Zhu is an avid reader who devours about 50 books every year. He said he believes in the power of books to spread respect for traditional culture and to build a harmonious and innovative society. The apparent lack of interest in reading, especially among young people, worries him a lot.

The professor started his campaign to foster a book-reading society by promoting reading on campus back in 2000.

"A school without books will never have real education, and education without reading is simply training," he said. "I would rather think of schools as a place to cultivate students' desire and ability to read instead of just an educational institute."

In 2000, Zhu helped compile a series of books under the name New Century Education Library. The series contains about 400 books developed especially for students and teachers.

He consulted nearly 100 experts in China and abroad to draw up the book list, which includes both Chinese and English-language classics.

Since 2002, students at Yufeng Primary School in Suzhou's Kunshan County have been required to read 100 books during their six years in primary school.

Zhu initiated a campaign, named "caterpillar to butterfly" last year under which experts and teachers recommend the most suitable books for children of different ages. The final list covers a variety of works, from mythology and fairy tales, to popular science.

"Children are like caterpillars who become butterflies through reading," Zhu said. "Books can be woven into a beautiful net, which helps children preserve their purity, happiness and courage."

Zhu's reading campaign is not just confined to campuses, though. In 2006, he initiated the first "Suzhou Reading Festival". The slogan was "reading makes us more pretty".

In his proposal to the CPPCC this year, Zhu suggested that a National Reading Festival be held on September 28, the birth date of the sage Confucius, because the ancient intellectual and China's earliest educationist has many famous views on reading and learning.

Among them are sayings like, "Have an insatiable desire to learn?" (xue'er buyan) and "Isn't it a pleasure to learn and review frequently?" (xue'er shixizhi, buyiyuehu). September is also the time when most of China's schools start new terms.

The festival would feature various activities involving books, according to Zhu's proposals. Reading salons and reading and speech contests will all contribute to developing reading as a popular habit.

Zhu has also called for teachers and parents to leave books they like in libraries or other public locations so others can pick them up.

(China Daily March 7, 2007)