Among printed books, Chinese readers loved literature most, followed by life, history and psychology. As to the realm of digital reading, urban love stories were the most popular, followed by history/military, literary classics and fantasy.

About 70 percent of Chinese families with children younger than 8 had the habit of reading with the kids. On average, they spent 23.69 minutes a day reading together.

Xu said the purpose of the survey is to serve readers better and help provide better public services for readers. The academy for the first time released the national reading index of 2017 and hoped to create a standard system of references.

The national reading index system contains a personal reading index, 71.65 in 2017, and a public service index, 64.9 in 2017.

"It's something close to the stock market index, used to indicate the comprehensive level of reading quality, and reading experience," Xu said.