The National Books Trading Expo has grown into a major event for the country's publishing industry since its launch in 1980.[Photo/Xinhua]

A just-concluded expo in Inner Mongolia has put the spotlight back on offline reading, Mei Jia and Yuan Hui report in Baotou.

With a policy boost to help reading in China, the traditional book market is seeing signs of revival after some struggle in the face of a technological onslaught.

The 26th National Books Trading Expo, which was recently held in the northern city of Baotou, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, is testimony to that.

About 716,000 visitors attended the three-day expo that concluded on Sunday, and bought more than 1 million copies worth some 30 million yuan ($4.5 million) at cover prices. All the publishers made a total of 4 billion yuan, according to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

At the expo, some visitors said they came to buy their favorite titles, while others patiently waited for hours for autographs of their beloved authors, including Taiwan writer and illustrator Tsai Chih-chung, who now lives on the mainland.

"We've witnessed much progress since 11 ministries launched a national campaign to promote reading in 2006," says Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of the administration.

In Baotou, an average of 300 literary events have been held annually since 2012, attracting 1.5 million people from the city's overall population of 2.83million.

This year's expo not only served as a platform for big publishers and smaller booksellers, it was also a festival for readers.

The fair's launch in 1980 was a reflection of the economic and social changes taking place in China then.

This year, the expo had a forum where TV anchor and singer Gao Xiaosong and established writer Mai Jia spoke on "IP" and how books can be adapted into TV series and films.

The expo also honored 10 avid readers, with the youngest being 9-year-old Li Fumutong from Beijing, a reader of some 5,000 books, and 108-year-old economist Yang Jingnian from Tianjin as the oldest winner, who says his life has been shaped and changed by reading.