The trade volume of China's e-book market is expected to reach 33.5 billion yuan ($5.34 billion) by 2020, according to a report printed in the People's Daily Tuesday.

(Photo: CGTN)

The market will see average annual growth of 29.8 percent in the next three years, according to the report, jointly released by Chinese online book retailer Dangdang.com and big data analysis service provider Analysys.

In 2017, e-books registered a growth of 29.2 percent to reach 15.3 billion yuan, while online sales of printed books rose 34.4 percent year on year to 30.1 billion yuan, it added.

According to the report, readers aged 30 or below accounted for 52.3 percent of printed book readers and 53.4 percent of e-book readers.

Meanwhile, female readers make up 69 percent of printed book readers and 86.7 percent of e-book readers, respectively, it said.