A list of popular new Chinese words published on Thursday revealed the hottest topics, varying from public health to international politics, that have been covered by Chinese press in 2005.

 

The top five new Chinese words on the list are "entering UN Security Council," "Fuwa," "EU Constitution," "Streptococcus suis" and "Lien-Hu Meeting," according to research results of the City University of Hong Kong.

 

The five new words have been used most frequently over the year by Chinese press in the four cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei, showed the university's research conducted with a computer software.

 

"Entering UN Security Council" refers to Japan's drive for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, which has drawn concerns from readers of the four Chinese cities, said the university on its website.

 

"Fuwa" is the Chinese name of Beijing Olympic mascots, five dolls bearing English names as the Friendlies. The popularity of the word has shown the public's keen interest in the coming Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in 2008.

 

The Chinese word "EU Constitution" came from the European Union's controversial trial to become a political body from the current economic one.

 

"Streptococcus suis" is the name of the pig pathogen affecting human health in China's Sichuan Province earlier this year.

 

"Lien-Hu Meeting" refers to the historical meeting between Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party chief Lien Chan, who made the first trip as a KMT chairman to the mainland since 1949 when the mainland and Taiwan split after a civil war.

 

"These new words reveal once more hot topics in the individual cities and those shared among them," said the university.

 

The Language Information Sciences Research Center of the university has started to collect new Chinese words appearing on Chinese press in China and Chinese-spoken countries such as Singapore since last year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2005)