Amazon, CMCC launch new product, services for Chinese readers

Amazon's logo in Chinese [Photo: CFP]

Amazon and Migu, a subsidiary of telecom operator China Mobile (CMCC-Migu), signed a strategic cooperation agreement Tuesday on a new product and exclusive services for readers in China.

Under the agreement, Amazon and CMCC-Migu will release an entirely new Kindle device, the Kindle X Migu E-reader, Amazon's first ever co-branded reading device, which combines more than 460,000 Kindle eBooks from the Kindle Store, and over 400,000 online literature titles from Migu.

"Chinese are reading more than ever, and they will read even more," according to David Limp, senior vice president of Amazon Devices. "Many customers in China want the flexibility to read as much as they want across a variety of genres and authors."

Limp said that the two companies have worked very closely to bring Chinese customers a reading experience that combines the best of books and online literature.

China has become the biggest market for Kindle devices, according to Elaine Chang, president of Amazon China. More than 460,000 books, including 220,000 Chinese titles and 240,000 English titles, are available on Kindle Store in China.

Sha Yuejia, executive vice president of CMCC, said that in 2016, the digital reading market in China hit about 12 billion yuan (1.76 billion U.S. dollars), up 25 percent year on year, and it is expected to increase by more than 20 percent in 2017.

According to a report released by Amazon China this April, among more than 10,000 surveyed Chinese, 56 percent read more than 10 books in 2016, and 82 percent spent at least half an hour each day on reading.

CMCC-Migu is one of China's largest online reading platforms, with 160 million monthly active readers.