The Chinese character "融", pronounced as rónɡ and meaning integration, was selected as the 2023 Cross-Strait Chinese Character, in Taipei on Friday.

The event was jointly organized by institutions from both sides of the Taiwan Straits, receiving over 15 million votes in total. The character"融" garnered 982,072 votes, surpassing other candidates like "轉" (zhuǎn-- turning), "盼" (pàn - longing for), "通" (tōnɡ -- connecting), "望" (wànɡ -- looking forward), and "啟" (qǐ -- opening).

The recommendation of the character“融” derived froma circular issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, which said that both sides of the Taiwan Straits will explore an innovative approach to integrated development and take the lead in setting up a pilot zone for integrated cross-Straits development in Fujian Province, advancing integration through better connectivity and more preferential policies, and based on mutual trust and understanding.

The Chinese character "融" is unveiled as the 2023 Cross-Strait Chinese Character in Taipei, Dec. 8, 2023. (Photo/China News Service)

Chen Weiming, president and editor-in-chief of Haixi Morning Post, said the characterrepresents the current situation and vision of Taiwan Straits, showcasing the way and purposes of developing cross-Strait relations, and embodying the most sincere emotions between the people on both sides after overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past three years.

The annual event of Cross-Straits Chinese Character selection began in 2008.

As an important side event of the 2023 Cross-Strait Chinese Character Festival, the selection event started on Oct. 27 this year, inviting well-known figures from both sides to recommend representative characters.

From the recommendations, 36 candidate characters were selected, and online voting took place from Nov. 21 to Dec. 6.