智 'intelligence' and 人类命运共同体 'a shared destiny for mankind' have been chosen as International Chinese Character of the Year and International Chinese Word of the Year, in a competition organized by China's Ministry of Education and the Commercial Press.

'Intelligence' and 'a shared destiny for mankind' selected as International Chinese Character of the Year and International Chinese Word of the Year for 2017. [Photo: sina.com.cn]

The month-long competition, which ended on Wednesday, saw two characters and two words chosen by experts and netizens to showcase the charm of the Chinese language. Since 2006, this annual competition has been a record of changes to both the Chinese language and Chinese society.

Yu Dianli, general manager of the Commercial Press, said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerged as a key topic in 2017, which is why 'intelligence' was chosen as the International Chinese Character of the Year.

Yu said that the choice of 'a shared destiny for mankind' (人类命运共同体) as the International Chinese Word of the Year was driven by the growing awareness of the Chinese people of their fundamental role in the international community. Chinese President Xi Jinping mentioned the word in his keynote speech at the United Nations at Geneva on January 18, 2017. The word was also mentioned in Xi's speech at the 19th session of National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October 2017.

Alongside the International Character and International Word of the year, 享 'share' was selected as the National Character of the Year, and 初心 'original aspiration' was picked as the National Word of the Year.

Yu Dianli said that the character 享 'share' is a reflection on the spirit of the Chinese people. 初心 'original aspiration' means being true to one's aspirations while at the same time being open to new ideas. The word highlights the intellectual energy of the Chinese people and their determination and confidence to follow the path led by the Communist Party.

During the competition, citizens from around China shared their own understandings of the chosen characters and words. When asked about what 初心 'original aspiration' means to her, Beijing citizen Lu Yan said, "Although our dreams of the future may change as we grow, we should always remember our heartfelt aspirations."