Beijing will invest 100 million yuan (US$14.5 million) to support local brick-and-mortar bookstores in 2019, the municipal government announced at a meeting held Tuesday. 

To fully implement the guidelines on brick-and-mortar bookstores issued by the General Office of the Beijing Municipal Government, the Publicity Department held this meeting in order to discuss the effects brought by the implementation and the difficulties encountered during the process, as well as the construction of a long-term sustainable business model.  

According to city officials at the meeting, Beijing invested nearly three times as much in physical bookstores in 2018 as in 2017, and 151 bookstores have received special funds of 50 million yuan in total this year. 

The city also set up an association of physical bookstore development this year to promote the implementation of various special policies on the development of brick-and-mortar bookstores. Meanwhile, an online management platform that combines intelligent innovations such as cloud-computing, big data and modern logistics for the urban area of Beijing is on the way to meet consumers' new needs and provide quality public service. 

Relevant departments of different districts have issued policies to guarantee the implementation of city guidelines. Haidian district allocated nearly one million yuan to subsidize 601 reading events of 40 projects organized by bookstores; Xicheng district created the mode of "public library plus bookstore" to construct themed reading spaces and promote the transformation and upgrading of physical bookstores. 

The Guangnei Street library, for instance, cooperated with the Oracle reading space to promote reading. As a result, the number of readers increased 10 times, and the reading events increased from 20 or 30 per year to more than 400 per year. 

With considerations for its complex landforms, Fangshan district adopted a community-based bookstore development strategy. Take the Puhua Township for example. The residents there love traditional Chinese operas, so the local government built opera-themed bookstores and organized a series of events including opera performances and opera arts exhibitions.  

Beijing built 126 brick-and-mortar bookstores in 2018. Experts believe that brick-and-mortar bookstores have again become the main book source for Beijing residents, and they played a key role in Beijing's cultural development. 

Wang Yefei, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC and director of the Municipal Bureau of Press and Publication, said the Beijing Municipal Government will continue to promote the development of brick-and-mortar bookstores and invest 100 million yuan to support 200 bookstores in 2019 while speeding up the construction of reading space and community libraries.

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