Wu Zhiming, a CPPCC member from Fujian, submitted his proposal to the 13th CPPCC national committee, while attending its ongoing opening session in Beijing, calling for building township-level bookstores across the country.

In recent years, the physical bookstores in China have achieved rapid revival and development in cities with the support from national and local government.

However, owing to some factors such as poor transportation, low consumption capability as well as high operational cost, brick-and-mortar bookstores' development in the areas under the county-level stagnated or even declined.

In a bid to tackle the issue and further cultural promotion in rural areas across the country, Wu, also deputy general manager of Straits Publishing and Distributing Group, submitted his proposal and suggestions.

In his proposal, Wu suggested following-up of the nation's largest offline bookstore chains - Xinhua Bookstore's steps in building physical bookstores in townships while constructing the ones tailored to local conditions.

He also noted that local government offer more incentives, including subsidies, tax breaks, to explore a sustainable development pattern in rural areas.

"Grassroots-level bookstores undertake the heavy responsibilities in promoting scientific knowledge as well as the socialist core values," Wu said, suggesting that in the future there should be an inclusion of township-level bookstore construction in the government official appraisal systems.

Wu Zhiming, a CPPCC member from Fujian, submits his proposal to the 13th CPPCC national committee, while attending its ongoing opening session in Beijing, calling for building township-level bookstores across the country. [Photo/fj.people.cn]