The Chinese-English edition of The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary would help both foreigners learning Chinese and Chinese studying English, said Shen Jiaxuan, the director of the Institute of Linguistics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Currently, more than 300 universities and colleges in China offer Chinese classes to foreigners, and more than 25,000 foreigners register to take the Chinese language proficiency test every year.

The number of Chinese studying English, it goes without saying, is gigantic.

And Chinese publishers are keen to make the most of this business opportunity.

In 2000, a bilingual version of the palm-sized Xinhua Dictionary rolled off the presses. Xinhua Dictionary, one of the most popular reference books in China, has been reprinted over 120 times since it was first published in 1957.

Li Pengyi, the director of the publisher of the Chinese-English edition of The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary, was confident that the dictionary would have an edge over other publications on the market.

Shen Jiaxuan said: "A good bilingual dictionary is based on translations from one language to another and thus calls for a good dictionary in the mother tongue. The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary is such a dictionary, having been well received by a wide range of readers since its publication."

The Chinese language dictionary was compiled under the direction of renowned linguists Lu Shuxiang and Ding Shengshu and published only after numerous revisions were made over the course of two decades. It is considered a milestone in dictionary publishing in China.

While the dictionary sets out to popularize standard Chinese and standardize its vocabulary, it also includes words from classical Chinese that have survived in contemporary usage as well as slang and words from Chinese dialects that have become widely used.

However, its encyclopedic nature made translating the dictionary into English an arduous task.

The dictionary also contains thousands of proverbs, idioms, allegorical sayings, and quotes and allusions from Chinese poetry and other classic works, making it difficult to find their equivalent or counterpart in English.

To make sure the translation is in line with the original dictionary's contents, style and character, the publisher had it checked by senior specialists and native speakers.

The bilingual dictionary also contains 2,000-odd new words and phrases, which have become popular in recent years. They are frequently used, especially by urban youth, but had rarely been seen in books and dictionaries.

While providing readers with authoritative translations of these words, the dictionary can also be viewed as a miniature compendium of the profound changes in Chinese society in recent years. The new words and phrases can help people feel the pulse of the country's development at the turn of the new century.

The latest additions to the dictionary come from almost all walks of life. There are new scientific words such as genetic modification, clone, digitalization and magnetic levitation train; new economic terms such as a win-win situation; Internet-related words such as Internet cafe, surfer, e-mail, hacker and hits.

In terms of politics, there are phrases such as "Deng Xiaoping Theory" and "three represents."

According to Li Pengyi, the translators tried hard to find the most suitable English equivalents of the new words. For example, Wang Min is translated as "netizen," and the explanation of Lian Zhou Zhuan is 24/7.

According to Li, so far the orders placed with his press to buy the bilingual dictionary has hit 200,000 copies.

It is estimated that about 500,000 to 600,000 copies will be sold this year.

(China Daily January 24, 2003)