NANCHANG -- The fifth National Conference on Reading was held on Monday in Nanchang, capital of East China's Jiangxi province, where this year's national reading week was officially launched.

Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the event and delivered a speech.

Attendees called for greater efforts to promote reading nationwide and foster a culture of reading in society.

Noting that reading is the most fundamental aspect of cultural development, they stressed the importance of fully leveraging nationwide reading initiatives in the broader drive to build a leading country in culture.

They also called for enhancing the development and management of public reading facilities.

This year's national reading week, running from Monday to Sunday, will feature a series of events to ignite a passion for reading across society.