Shenzhen Reading Month to kick off Sunday

The 27th Shenzhen Reading Month will open Sunday, with a program built around the theme “Read in Shenzhen, Connect with the World.”

Organizers have designed a “1+4+N” program: one launch ceremony, four major sections covering APEC and international engagement, technological innovation, citywide outreach and established reading brands, and a further 288 linked initiatives comprising about 2,700 events.

The month will include the release of the Asia-Pacific Youth Joint Reading Initiative and the debut of “What Is Shenzhen?,” a bilingual Chinese-English publication themed around APEC. Organizers say the projects aim to extend Shenzhen’s public reading initiatives beyond the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to the wider Asia-Pacific region.

Seven venues unite

A program called “Reading in Shenzhen: Seven Libraries Together” will connect seven recently completed cultural venues: the Eyes of the GBA (Bay Area Store of Shenzhen Book City), Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum, Shenzhen International Museum of Art, Shenzhen Natural History Museum, New Hall of the Shenzhen Cultural Center, Shenzhen Library North Division and Shenzhen Bay Culture Square. Each venue will offer themed reading lists and an event calendar.

The Eyes of the GBA (Bay Area Store of Shenzhen Book City) stands amid a modern urban landscape in Qianhai, serving as a landmark cultural venue for the city’s reading initiatives. Photos from WeChat account "深圳发布"

Reading goes citywide

Reading activities will also extend into parks, residential communities and workplaces. Lychee Park, Lianhuashan Park and Shenzhen Bay Park will host a park reading festival and tent-based book-exchange stations, featuring book-market stalls, outdoor staged readings and poetry-and-folk-music performances. A community program will bring books and activities to young people’s apartments, while “lunchtime reading desks” in industrial parks will serve frontline workers.

The country’s first special fund dedicated to public reading will, for the first time, accept public donations through online platforms. It will gather reading requests from children in remote rural areas, including Kashgar in Xinjiang, Chayu in Xizang and Xunwu in Jiangxi. Older residents will be able to borrow books without registering, using their senior-care cards. 

Shoppers browse books at a Shenzhen bookstore ahead of the launch of the 27th Shenzhen Reading Month, which will feature citywide activities promoting reading and cultural exchange.

APEC takes center stage

APEC will be a prominent focus of this year’s program. Shenzhen’s public-reading initiatives are also set to appear in an 80th-anniversary special issue of UNESCO’s The UNCESCO Courier, presenting the city’s experience to readers in more than 190 countries and regions in at least six official UN languages.

Cross-city reading projects involving Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Macao and Kashgar will be joined by a new Shenzhen-Suzhou initiative promoting literary and cultural exchanges, the revitalization of intangible heritage and joint performances. Eleven international events are planned, including the “No Time, No Boundaries: From 0 to 24” international children’s book exhibition, a dialogue between Chinese and French writers, and a simulated multilateral reading conference for Asia-Pacific youth.

Young participants compete in the final of the 26th Shenzhen Reading Month youth debate competition held in November 2025. 

AI adds a new chapter

Technology will feature through the AI Reading Research Center at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, which will present innovations including its Core-AI agent and hold four public lectures on AI and reading. The Shenzhen Reading Month mini-program will offer personalized book recommendations, alongside online reading courses and activities introducing humanoid robots.

Books meet the city

Readers browse books at last year's Shenzhen Book Fair, one of the many feature activities during the Shenzhen Reading Month.

A citywide reading and walking initiative will offer about 15 routes across five themes: revolutionary history, local history and culture, science and technology, nature and ecology, and urban life. The annual “Top 10 Books” selection will draw on 822 titles submitted by 87 publishers and include an Asia-Pacific joint-reading section. More than 500 titles will be considered for the “Top 10 Children’s Books,” accompanied by a children’s art exhibition.

The month will run alongside the 2026 Southern China Book Fair and the eighth Shenzhen Book Fair, creating what organizers describe as a dual push to promote reading. The book fair is scheduled for Nov. 26 to 30, with an APEC-themed exhibition area and a selection of 400,000 publications. Tickets linking the fair with local attractions and hotels are also planned.