More than 220 cities have run campaigns to promote reading among the public.
Wu Shangzhi, deputy head of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, revealed the data at a meeting Wednesday on the public reading initiative.
Wu called on local authorities and public institutions to make full use of the campaigns.
Chinese read 7.86 books per capita in 2016, including 3.21 e-books, according to a survey by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication.
It also found that about 68.2 percent of adults read digitally, while 58.8 percent read paper books.
