China unveils character, word of year for 2023

BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese character for "zhen," meaning "self-inspire," and "high-quality development" have been respectively chosen as the Character and Word of the Year 2023 in China, according to a survey released Wednesday.

As part of the annual event "Chinese Language Review 2023," the character and the word were chosen from the recommendations of netizens and experts. An algorithm based on a corpus of Chinese characters was also used in the selection process.

The character of "zhen" applies when one is able to stay true to his or her ideals in the face of challenges, continue to march despite wind and rain, and feel the joy for making every inch of progress, the experts said.

Having been held for 18 consecutive years, the buzzword selection aims to encourage the public to record their lives and social changes.

This year's event is a joint endeavor by the National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center, the Commercial Press, and Xinhuanet.