Ahead of the 29th World Book Day on April 23, SDX Joint Publishing Co, in collaboration with Wuhai, jointly held a strategic cooperation signing ceremony in Beijing on Sunday. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The first Sanlian Taofen Bookstore in Inner Mongolia autonomous region is set to open in Wuhai, aiming to support the region's efforts in creating public reading spaces for residents especially farmers and herdsmen.

Ahead of the 29th World Book Day on April 23, SDX Joint Publishing Co, in collaboration with Wuhai, jointly held a strategic cooperation signing ceremony in Beijing on Sunday. Over the course of a three-year action plan, the two parties will establish a bookstore to bring good and new books to border areas.

They will also organize events such as lectures by renowned figures and book sharing sessions to enable more readers in border ethnic areas to meet authors in their own communities.

Wuhai, located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in western Inner Mongolia, is a region where 43 ethnic groups converge and civilizations meet. It has a deep historical and cultural heritage and is renowned as the "Pearl of the Yellow River".

Meng Peiyun, member of the Standing Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the Wuhai Party Committee, said that in recent years, Wuhai has extensively carried out activities for universal reading, and libraries in the grassland and communities are thriving.

The collaboration with Sanlian Bookstore is another important measure in Wuhai's efforts to build a culturally strong city, he said.

Song Zhijun, general manager of SDX Joint Publishing Co, said the cooperation with such a city, rich in history and culture, to jointly promote universal reading is an honor for Sanlian.

As online book purchasing becomes increasingly mainstream, creating physical bookstores allows readers to see and feel the books. In this way, every aspect of reading becomes more tangible, he said.

By combining activities related to Wuhai's historical and cultural relics, the integration of reading and exploration will be fully utilized with the city's humanistic and tourism resources, he added.

On Monday, Xin Deyong, a professor from the Department of History at Peking University will give a leading reading activity discussing the origin of the Yellow River and Chinese civilization for readers in Wuhai.