Free · 77 abbreviations
Chinese abbreviations
How Chinese abbreviations are made
| Full form | Short form | How | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peking University | 北京大学 | 北大 | First character of each word |
| Traffic police | 交通警察 | 交警 | First character of each word |
| Environmental protection | 环境保护 | 环保 | First character of each word |
| Supermarket | 超级市场 | 超市 | First character of each word |
| CCTV | 中央电视台 | 央视 | The key characters |
| Spring Festival Gala | 春节联欢晚会 | 春晚 | The key characters |
| College entrance exam | 高等学校招生考试 | 高考 | The key characters |
| Bus | 公交车 | 公交 | Drop the last character |
| Expressway | 高速公路 | 高速 | Drop the last word |
| Beijing | 北京 | 京 | One character |
Words for abbreviations
缩写
abbreviation; acronym
简称
abbreviation; short form
缩略语
abbreviation; acronym
Everyday short words
超市
supermarket (short for 超级市场)
高考
college entrance exam (in China) (short for 高等学校招生考试)
环保
environmental protection (short for 环境保护)
外贸
foreign trade (short for 对外贸易)
外企
foreign company (short for 外资企业)
国企
state-owned enterprise (short for 国有企业)
医保
medical insurance (short for 医疗保险)
社保
social insurance; social security (short for 社会保险)
公积金
housing provident fund (short for 住房公积金)
交警
traffic police (short for 交通警察)
科研
scientific research (short for 科学研究)
高速
expressway; highway (short for 高速公路)
化工
chemical industry (short for 化学工业)
公交
bus (short for 公交车)
Schools, media and big events
北大
Peking University (short for 北京大学)
清华
Tsinghua University (short for 清华大学)
复旦
Fudan (short for 复旦大学, a university in Shanghai)
北师大
Beijing Normal University (short for 北京师范大学)
中科院
Chinese Academy of Sciences (short for 中国科学院)
央视
CCTV (short for 中央电视台)
春晚
Spring Festival Gala (short for 春节联欢晚会)
奥运
Olympics (short for 奥林匹克运动会)
世博会
World Expo (short for 世界博览会)
欧盟
EU; European Union (short for 欧洲联盟)
世卫
WHO (short for 世界卫生组织)
人大
National People's Congress (short for 全国人民代表大会)
政协
CPPCC (short for 中国人民政治协商会议)
Countries in one character
中
China; Chinese (short form)
美
America; American (short form)
英
Britain; English (short for 英国, 英语)
日
Japan; Japanese (short form)
法
France; French (short form)
德
Germany (short for 德国)
韩
South Korea; Korea (short for 韩国)
俄
Russia (short for 俄罗斯)
欧
Europe (short for 欧洲)
亚
Asia (short for 亚洲)
汉
Chinese language (short for 汉语)
Province short names
京
Beijing (short for 北京)
沪
Shanghai (short for 上海)
津
Tianjin (short for 天津)
渝
Chongqing (short for 重庆)
冀
Hebei (short for 河北)
晋
Shanxi (short for 山西)
辽
Liaoning (short for 辽宁)
吉
Jilin (short for 吉林)
黑
Heilongjiang (short for 黑龙江)
苏
Jiangsu or Suzhou (short for 江苏, 苏州)
浙
Zhejiang (short for 浙江)
皖
Anhui (abbreviation for the province)
闽
Fujian (short for 福建)
赣
Jiangxi (short for 江西)
鲁
Shandong (short for 山东)
豫
Henan (short for 河南)
鄂
Hubei (short for 湖北)
湘
Hunan (short for 湖南)
粤
Guangdong (short for the province)
琼
Hainan (short for 海南)
川
Sichuan (short for 四川)
黔
Guizhou (short for the province)
滇
Yunnan (short for 云南)
陕
Shaanxi (short for the province)
甘
Gansu (short for 甘肃)
青
Qinghai (short for 青海)
桂
Guangxi (short for 广西)
藏
Tibet; Tibetan (short for 西藏)
宁
Ningxia (short for 宁夏)
港
Hong Kong (short for 香港)
澳
Macao (short for 澳门)
台
Taiwan (short form)
One character for a word
篮
basketball (short for 篮球)
足
football (short for 足球)
漫
comics; manga (short for 漫画)
博
blog (short for 博客)
How are Chinese abbreviations made?
Usually by keeping one character from each word of the full name: 北京大学 (Běijīng Dàxué), Peking University, becomes 北大 (Běi-Dà), and 环境保护, environmental protection, becomes 环保 (huánbǎo). Long names keep their key characters, as 春节联欢晚会 becomes 春晚 (Chūnwǎn), and some just drop the end, as 公交车 becomes 公交 (gōngjiāo). An abbreviation is 缩写 (suōxiě) or 简称 (jiǎnchēng).
What are the abbreviations of the Chinese provinces?
Every province has a one-character short name, used on car plates, in train and road names and in the news: 京 (jīng) Beijing, 沪 (hù) Shanghai, 粤 (yuè) Guangdong, 川 (chuān) Sichuan, 鲁 (lǔ) Shandong. A Beijing car plate starts 京A. Some have a second, older name: Sichuan is also 蜀 (shǔ), Guizhou 贵 or 黔, Yunnan 云 or 滇, Shaanxi 陕 or 秦, Gansu 甘 or 陇. Inner Mongolia is 蒙 and Xinjiang 新.
What is the abbreviation for the Chinese language?
The language code for Chinese is zh (and zho or chi), and Mandarin on its own is cmn. Websites write zh-CN or zh-Hans for simplified characters and zh-TW or zh-Hant for traditional. China’s country codes are CN and CHN. In Chinese, the language is 中文 (Zhōngwén) or 汉语 (Hànyǔ), short 汉 (hàn).
Why do Chinese news say 中美 and 中日?
Countries shorten to one character when they are paired: 中 China, 美 America, 日 Japan, 英 Britain, 俄 Russia. So 中美关系 (Zhōng-Měi guānxì) is China–US relations and 中日 is China and Japan. 美 is short for 美国 (Měiguó), literally “beautiful country”, chosen for its sound.
What do yyds and xswl mean?
They are pinyin abbreviations used online, the first letters of each syllable: yyds is 永远的神 (yǒngyuǎn de shén), the GOAT, and xswl is 笑死我了 (xiào sǐ wǒ le), LOL. Our Chinese slang page decodes the rest.
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More short forms and slang
Abbreviations, full forms, pinyin and meanings from our own dictionary; language codes from ISO 639 and country codes from ISO 3166.