Kids Read, a project aiming to encourage a love of English reading in primary students, was launched by the British Council and HSBC at the Peking University-affiliated Elementary School’s Fengtai campus in Beijing on May 17, 2018.

The school was presented with a mini-library of 150 books, which were chosen for their quality, color, fun content and ability to engage kids. All the books are famous among children in the UK.

The school, as one of the quality education training bases for basic English in China and a key research base of humanities and social sciences for the Ministry of Education, pays special attention to English training of teachers and students.

“Reading is invaluable to our lives, and I believe both students and the teachers will benefit from this project,” headmaster Li Zhengchen said.

The school is one of 11 in Beijing which will participate in the Kids Read project this year. The project covered six Beijing schools and more than 1,000 students in 2016. Some of the schools are in rural areas and contain a high percentage of migrant or minority group students, with little access to original English books.