HANGZHOU, April 24 (Xinhua) -- A total of 618,100 Chinese digital books were released overseas last year, according to a report issued Monday by the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association.

The China digital readership report 2022, released during the second National Conference on Reading held in Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, showed that the figure increased by more than 50 percent year on year.

Last year, North America, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Southeast Asia remained the major destinations for the digital books released, while the European market gained attention from publishers, with the number of digital books released surpassing that in China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Fantasy and martial arts were among the most popular themes, read the report.

"Digital books have become a new symbol and form of expression for showcasing China's image and enhancing the influence of Chinese culture in the new era," said Zhang Yijun, first vice president of the association.