Roughly a month after passing a law requiring adults to regularly visit their elderly parents, Chinese policy makers are considering legislation to encourage another activity the country’s people have neglected: reading.
在出臺成年子女須定期探望年邁父母這一法律大約一個月後，中國決策者開始考慮通過立法鼓勵另一項被國人忽視的活動：閱讀。

　　The General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television announced that it had drawn up the first draft of a new Regulation on Public Reading Promotion, which it planned to submit to the country’s cabinet, the State Council, for approval by the end of the year.
　　中國國家新聞出版廣電總局宣佈，草擬了《全民閱讀促進條例》初稿，打算在年底前將其提交給國務院審批。

　　The regulation, which has been in development since the country’s annual legislative conclave in March, is motivated by new research showing Chinese people reading books at a relatively low rate despite the country being one of the world’s most prolific book producers.

　　Chinese people between the ages of 18 and 70 read 6.7 books on average last year, including paper books and e-books, an increase of roughly one book per year compared with 2011, according to a national public reading survey conducted by the state-affiliated Chinese Academy of Press and Publication.
　　國有機構中國新聞出版研究院對全國公眾閱讀情況的調查結果顯示，去年年齡在18歲至70歲的中國人平均讀了6.7本書（包括紙書和電子書），比2011年增加了一本左右。

　　American readers consumed an average of 15 books per year in 2012, according to a survey by Pew. Three-quarters of Americans read at least one book last year, Pew found, which means that Americans read 10.5 books on average in 2012 when nonreaders are factored in.
　　皮尤(Pew)調查顯示，2012年美國讀者平均一年閱讀15本書。調查發現，四分之三的美國人去年至少讀了一本書，這意味著如考慮那些不讀書的人，2012年美國人平均讀了10.5本書。

　　China publishes more than 400,000 different book titles last year ─ a 14.4% increase from 2011 ─ according to official statistics.

　　Such a low reading rate is disturbing to leaders in a country that once chose its officials according to how well-read they were. Yet social-media users haven’t taken kindly to the announcement of the law, details of which have yet to be released.
　　對於曾經根據博學程度來選拔官員的中國來說，如此低的閱讀率令中國領導人不安。但社交媒體用戶並未對有關“閱讀法”消息持歡迎態度。相關法律細節尚未公佈。

　　“I totally agree with promoting reading, but doing it by law is totally crap and useless,” wrote one user of Sina Corp.’s popular Weibo microblogging service.
　　 “Will people get sentenced for not reading enough?” asked another.

　　Even the Communist Party’s mouthpiece newspaper was skeptical about legislating better reading habits, though it defended the spirit of the proposed regulation.
　　就連作為中共喉舌的報紙也質疑是否能通過立法培養更好的閱讀習慣，儘管該報為這一條例的用意進行了辯護。

　　“No matter whether (the law) can really improve the reading rate, it is true that more and more Chinese don’t read,” People’s Daily said in on its verified Weibo feed.

　　Given China’s long history of valuing scholarly pursuits, it isn’t clear why Chinese people have such a weak appetite for the written word, though some say it is precisely the country’s obsession with education and stiff competition on the college entrance exams ─ that’s too blame.

 　　“To score high in exams, we are forced to read something outdated and valueless,” said Kang Kai, editor of CS-BOOKY, a Beijing-based publishing company. “The painful experience leaves a negative impression on people’s mind and later leads to the popular idea that ‘reading is useless.’”

　　Others point to censorship. The publishing regulator maintains strict control over the issuance of book numbers, which are required for a book to be published or sold legally, denying them to books it deems inappropriate. Topics that allude to violence, religion, sex and politics are strictly controlled. Some publishers say this year, novels about Chinese officialdom an immensely popular genre widely embraced by Chinese readers in recent years have been unable to get book numbers.
　　還有一些人把矛頭指向了審查機制。出版監管機構嚴格控制書號的發放，不給其認為不適合出版的書發放書號，而一本書要合法出版、合法銷售就必須要有書號。與暴力、宗教、性和政治有關的主題更是受到了嚴格的控制。一些出版商說，今年，官場小說也拿不到書號了。近些年來，官場小說在中國讀者中大受歡迎。

　　“It’s not that Chinese don’t like to read,” said Wang Xiaodong, president of China Pioneer Culture & Media Co., whose company has many published books that later were adapted into films and dramas, including “The Flowers of War.” “It’s that Chinese don’t like to read what the government publishes.”
　　The wide availability of pirated books online is another problem, according Mr. Wang. “It will be more meaningful for the government to try harder to curb online piracy and protect writer’s rights,” he said.

　　Finally, there are the bad memories many Chinese have of the last time Beijing tried to force its citizens to read.
而且，對於上一次中國政府強迫人們閱讀的事，很多人還有著不好的記憶。

　　“It is fine to recommend good books to the public, but compelling people to read may lead to mental oppression,” said Mr. Kang, referring to the Cultural Revolution when the public was commanded to read works by Mao Zedong.