BEIJING — China has vowed to improve the quality and efficiency of its rural libraries through reform and innovation efforts, according to an action plan released by central authorities.

Among the measures, supplies of e-reading products and services will be increased at rural libraries, and reading activities of various themes will be held on a regular basis to meet local residents’ needs, says a statement by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, which released the plan along with nine other central-level agencies.

As of the end of 2018, there were 587,000 village-based libraries nationwide, and over 1.1 billion books had been distributed to rural residents, says the statement.

China started a trial run of the Rural Library project in 2005 and put it into full swing two years later in order to optimize public cultural services in rural areas. By the end of 2012, the project had covered all administrative villages where basic conditions allow for building a library.