Beijing, Sept. 4 (CNA) China's edition of a dictionary featuring the differences between the Mandarin Chinese used in Taiwan and in China was published Tuesday, part of a joint effort to promote Chinese-language reference materials between both sides.

Chinese Vice Minister of Education Li Weihong and Li Yafei, assistant minister of China's Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, attended the launch ceremony of the Modern Chinese Cross- Strait Dictionary here.

Taiwan and China have been separated for a long time, and the usage of phrases and vocabulary have become very different, National Cultural Association Secretary-General Yang Tu said, adding that the dictionary could help people from Taiwan and China better communicate with each other.

The dictionary, which includes common Mandarin Chinese words and phrases used in Taiwan and China, is part of a cross-strait cooperation project aimed at enhancing cultural exchanges by compiling and publishing Chinese-language reference books and setting up a database for the languages used on both sides.

The 1,800-page dictionary, which contains 5,700 words and over 27,000 phrases, took about 200 Taiwanese and Chinese scholars more than 15 months to compile, according to the the dictionary's Chinese compiler, the China Lexicographical Society.

Both sides will continue compiling words and phrases, and will add more vocabulary for daily life situations in the next edition of the dictionary, said Yang.

The Taiwanese edition of the dictionary was published Aug. 13.

(By Lawrence Chiu and Hanna Liu)
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