Off the wire
• 2nd Ld-Writethru-China Focus: China plans to launch core module of space station around 2018  • Japan gov't officials raid Mitsubishi Motors plant over falsified fuel economy data  • Feature: Afghan farmers forced to grow poppies for living  • Feature: "Little Damascus" in Cairo reminds past good days in Syria  • 1st Ld-Writethru: Chinese shares close lower Thursday  • Arab Israeli jailed for joining Syrian Jihadist group  • Foreign exchange rates in Singapore  • "The Voice" producer eyes China expansion despite dispute  • Profile: Katerina Lechou, High Priestess of Olympic Flame Lighting Ceremony  • Heavy rains to hit south China  
You are here: 　 Home

First library opened in Sansha in South China Sea

Xinhua, April 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

The first public library on China's southernmost island city of Sansha opened on Thursday in the city's only school.

The school, which opened in November last year, has 28 students of kindergarten and primary-school age and 10 teachers.

Established in July 2012, Sansha administers more than 200 islets, sandbanks and reefs in the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha island groups, as well as two million square km of surrounding waters in the South China Sea.

On Thursday, China Publishing Group Corp. inked an agreement with the city government of Sansha to build and manage the public library.

The agreement was signed on Yongxing Island, one of the Xisha islands and the city's administrative base. The publishing house donated 13,000 books worth 300,000 yuan (46,320 U.S. dollars) to the Yongxing School.

According to the agreement, the library is temporarily housed at the school, until the city government builds another venue.

Xiao Fang, president of Yongxing School, said life on the islands is still difficult because of a lack of facilities. People are also thirsty for good reading materials.

"The library will be a cultural bridge between the islands and the mainland," said Fan Xi'an, an executive of the publishing house.

The company also promised newly-published books would be added to the library's collection every year. Endi