Children’s Reading in China: Suzhou’s Commercial Book Club Industry

Abstract

In July 2021, China’s State Council initiated a wide-reaching
clampdown on private tutoring companies (and their students
within the compulsory schooling years of grades 1 to 9) in an
effort referred to as the Double Reduction policy.1 This targets the
amount of homework given to children and the extension of afternoon
after-school activities for free so that working parents are not
compelled to enroll their children in extracurricular activities outside
of the compulsory school environment. The policy, however,
did not target extracurricular activities for preschool children