Li, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, expressed his gratitude to experts for their constant improvement of the dictionary and their "contribution to the prosperity of the socialist culture," in a meeting with the experts engaged in this "significant cultural project."

Li Changchun (R), member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with experts and workers engaged in compiling and publishing the sixth edition, the latest, of the most authoritative encyclopedic dictionary of the Chinese language "Cihai", or "sea of words." in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 8, 2009. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

    Liu Yunshan, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, said the sixth edition of the renowned Chinese dictionary systematically reflects the civilization of the mankind, especially the Chinese civilization, and fully displays the development achievements and great changes taking place in China in the past six decades.

    The new edition, which took five years to complete, has more than 127,200 entries and over 16,000 pictures. It had removed 7,000 outdated or rarely used terms and included 12,300 new ones.

    The latest edition has been on sale in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

    The first edition of Cihai came out in 1936. It has been revised every 10 years and this year was published ahead of the National Day on Oct. 1.