BEIJING — China’s central authorities, including the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Culture, on Sept 13 jointly launched a campaign to increase digital reading resources for the blind and visually impaired.

The launch ceremony, held at the National Library of China, was attended by Liu Qibao, 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, who distributed smart reading machines and other Braille reading devices to the library and education facilities for the visually impaired.

The campaign aims to provide convenient Braille reading services such as digital audio books and electronic Braille for the country’s 17 million visually impaired citizens.

Central authorities will initially provide 200,000 reading machines to 400 libraries equipped with reading rooms for the visually impaired, which readers can use for free.

The private sector is also encouraged to play a proactive role in improving the country’s digital reading resources.