A report examining what books university students borrowed last year gives an insight into their interests. Liu Xiangrui reports.

A recent report based on university libraries' 2017 lending lists has started online discussions of such topics as how much-and what-young people are reading, around World Reading Day on April 23.

A growing number of university libraries are undertaking big data analyses of their lending records.

The report by the Chinese academic-resources platform Chinese and Foreign Academic Information, includes nearly 20 Chinese universities, including such top institutions as Peking, Tsinghua and Zhejiang universities.

The books and genres vary according to whether the respective university emphasizes arts or science. But trends still emerge.

Literary books are especially popular with students and account for about 30 percent of total lending, the report shows.

The most frequently checked-out books are from the mystery and romance genres. Some best-selling novels are also popular.