The 'Chinese Language Review 2025' event, jointly organized by the National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center, The Commercial Press, and Xinhuanet, announced the 'Character and Word of the Year' in Beijing on the 19th. '韧 (Resilience)' and '深度求索 (DeepSeek)' stood out from thousands of entries, being selected as the Domestic Character of the Year and Domestic Word of the Year, respectively.
Why were they chosen as the 'Character and Word of the Year'?
The character '韧' (Resilience) describes the backbone of the era. "The core meaning of the character '韧' lies in perseverance, unwavering willpower, and unyielding tenacity—it is the fundamental spirit and driving force in facing adversity." The event hosts of 'Chinese Language Review 2025' explained that in an era marked by intertwined uncertainties in politics, economy, and technology, resilience signifies not only growth, but also stress tolerance, adaptability, and elastic recovery.
'DeepSeek' lights up the AI journey. In January 2025, the domestically developed flagship large language model 'DeepSeek' was born, marking China's technological sovereignty in the field of AI. Experts pointed out that it serves as an important marker of China's self-driven productivity in the AI era, contributing 'Chinese intelligence' to the world. The major advances made by DeepSeek as a company represent the rise of a group of Chinese firms in the artificial intelligence sector.
What other words and characters shape the image of 2025?
New vocabulary is constantly emerging, and new expressions are continually being invented: 'Humanoid Robot' and 'Hangzhou Six Little Dragons' spotlight pioneering technological innovation; 'Emotional Value' and 'A Toast to Myself' embody emotional needs; 'Ticket Stub Economy', 'New Popular Arts', and 'Little Monster of Wave Wave Mountain' showcase the vibrancy of cultural practices...
This 'Chinese Language Review' event also released the Top 10 Hot Words in Chinese Media for 2025, the Top 10 Internet Buzzwords of 2025, and the Top 10 New Terms of 2025, distilling the spirit of the age from a wealth of linguistic phenomena and providing a unique perspective for understanding contemporary society.
Upon closer inspection, the three major lists each have their own characteristics, while also revealing broader patterns.
Media hot words place greater emphasis on news value, new terms highlight innovation in social life, and internet buzzwords stand out among young groups and internet culture.