China has started a special nationwide check on the quality of teaching material, reference books, dictionaries and children's reading material published last year, the publication watchdog said Tuesday.

This is the latest move adopted by the State Press and Publication Administration (SPPA) to step up monitoring of the country's book market in 2004, which has been titled The Year of Book Quality by the SPPA.

China boasted over 190,000 kinds of publications in 2003, among which some 110,000 were newly published. However, many errors were found in those books, especially in teaching material, reference books, dictionaries and children's reading material, which aroused dissatisfaction among the general readers.

The SPPA therefore in 2003 launched a special check on dictionaries and exposed 19 unqualified ones.

During this year's check, the SPPA said, publishers are required to first examine their own publications, and then the local publication authorities and the SPPA will give a spot check on their books.

The SPPA will release the results at the end of June and expose those unqualified books, whose publishers will be punished accordingly, the SPPA said.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2004)