Boost for bookstores

The city will invest 15 million yuan ($238.5 million) in the construction of publication distribution outlets, a third of which is meant to support bookstores since their sales have plummeted with the rise of online bookstores, local government officials said Tuesday.

Officials said that the new regulation is meant to provide small or medium-size private bookstores through preferential policies, following the increasing number of bookstore closures in the city in recent years.