Nine candidate characters were unveiled on Tuesday at a press conference for the 2024 Belt and Road Annual Chinese Character Release Event in Beijing:  惠 (hui or benefit), 联 (lian or connection), 畅 (chang or smooth), 坚 (jian or firm), 文 (wen or culture), 稳 (wen or stability), 开 (kai or opening), 友 (you or friendship) and 成 (cheng or success).

Initiated in 2016, the annual activity chooses one Chinese character that best represents the spirit of the Belt and Road Initiative every year. It aims to promote humanitarian exchanges and mutual understanding among civilizations along the Belt and Road. Last year's annual Chinese character was 信 (xin), meaning "letter, trust and credit."

At the event, an intangible cultural heritage inheritor performed a puppet show featuring the culture of Quanzhou, east China's Fujian Province. In the performance, the puppet made calligraphic impressions. The event was co-organized by the China Public Relations Association and the Quanzhou Municipal People's Government.

Over the next month, the China Public Relations Association will collect public opinion and feedback on the nine candidate characters, and the final results will be announced on July 26.

What is your Chinese character of the year? Let us know!