"Innovation" named Chinese Character of the Year

"创" (meaning "innovation" in English) was named the Chinese Character of the Year at the awards ceremony for the 2017 Cross-Straits Chinese Character Festival held in Taipei, capital of Taiwan province on Dec 15.

The selection process attracted numerous cross-Straits residents and celebrities, from political elites and cultural masters to prominent business people and sports stars.

Hao Longbin, vice-president of the Chinese Kuomintang, recommended "生" (meaning "vitality" in English). He believes that both Taiwan's development and the cross-Straits relations show infinite vitality.

Yang Mu, a musician from Taiwan, maintains that Taiwan and the Chinese mainland are destined to integrate together which explains why he selected "融" (meaning "integration" in English) as the Chinese Character of the Year.

The successful character was decided by online popular vote from the recommended 40 candidate characters from the end of November to the beginning of December, following the recommendations of the celebrity guests and the public.

Finally, "创" was determined the winner with the highest vote of all: 482,200.

The sponsors said that "创" precisely reflects the public view that innovative internet-based thinking has been changing the world and that numerous innovative advances between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have occurred over the past year.

After announcing the Chinese Character of the Year, renowned calligraphers from both sides of the Taiwan Straits wrote "创" in different ways with Chinese writing brushes on a long scroll.

The 2017 Cross-Straits Chinese Character Festival was sponsored by the Xiamen Newspaper Agency, the Xiamen Calligraphers Association, and the Chinese Book Society.

The festival has been running for 10 years and has contributed greatly towards cross-Straits relations between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan by highlighting their shared traditions and culture.

The festival has been held in Haicang district, Xiamen since 2014, adding to the area's cultural ambience.