On May 18, to coincide with the 46th International Museum Day, the MOE’s Department of Language Application and Administration held a meeting to kick off the construction of the Digital (Online) Museum of Chinese Language. 

It was noted that, as part of the initiatives to implement the national strategy of education digitalization, the digital museum was designed with the idea to develop it into a platform for the integration of language resources, the promotion of standard Chinese (i.e. mandarin), and the presentation of research results in related fields. It was agreed that the project would follow a long-term design, and leverage the existing resources of co-contributors, through a mechanism of joint construction and results-sharing while emphasizing application, innovation and safe operation. It was also stressed that a team would be organized, consisting of rigorously-selected experts specialized in language education, research and communication. Technical standards and working rules would also be developed to prevent potential risks of property infringement.

The meeting was attended by representatives from six contributors of the initial phase of the project, i.e. Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), Beijing Foreign Studies University, Communication University of China, Shanghai International Studies University, Guangxi University for Nationalities and Chinese Character Museum. The BLCU, as the secretariat of the working group of the project, introduced the initial construction plan and resources it was dedicating to the project. The initial phase of the project was scheduled to be completed with the planned content available online by the end of 2022.