Beijing's Haidian district government has teamed up with the National Library of China to launch the Haidian Reading Festival on Sunday, which was World Book Day.

In the following six months, 2,017 ordinary citizens who are current or former residents of the Haidian district, will be chosen as the "ambassadors of public reading" to promote reading in people’s daily lives. Documentaries about literary celebrities from the area are also to be made.

As Haidian is a hub for high-tech industry, internet-based digital reading will also be introduced into bookstores in the district to incubate cultural creativity as well. Book-sharing projects are to be held in public institutions, colleges and residential communities in Haidian. Winners of the Wenjin Award, a book award annually bestowed by the National Library of China, were announced on Sunday.