What is true is that use of italicized text is unusual in Chinese or Japanese body text--certainly not with the frequency or same range of functions as occurs in Latin typography. Bold text is not that unusual, however.
In precomputer Chinese, it would be very unusual to see italics or bold. The place of both is filled with point size differences, brackets/quotes of various styles, underlining (straight or saw-toothed, single or double). In later times, even with computerized font faces, it's my impression that italics and bold are not quite suitable for formal writing. Of course, in pop e-print, nearly everything that can be done to a character is done ... including Bold-Ital-Outline-Shadow ...
