With a click of a computer button, the first batch of Chinese e-books rolled on the market recently at the same time in both Beijing and Taipei,ushering in a new age of e-reading on both sides across the Taiwan straits.

According to the China Press and Publishing Journal, the e-book, "published" by the 60-year-old Xinhua Bookstore, is a portable device complete with functions as notepad, game and dictionary, apart from the basics of reading and inputting.

The size of an ordinary paperback book, it is able to store up content, the amount of dozens of books, and once connected to the internet, it is able to download on-line books, newspapers and magazines.

Most important of all, the e-book caters to the traditional way of reading by ordinary readers, who can still make underlines or notes when reading and leave bookmarks whenever they quit.

But the book also adds something new to reading -- you can read at night without light, adjust the size of characters most suitable to your eyes, and play games as well.
Experts here believe that this first batch of Chinese e-books are mature products and are at the same technological standard of English e-books.

The website under Xinhua Bookstore (www.cccpost.com) has opened up a special channel especially for the promotion of e-book sales and the provision of necessary services for e-book readers.