Dictionary still needed?

People have doubted whether dictionaries are still popular in this fast-changing era dominated by the Internet.

For beginners of the Chinese written language, the answer is definitely yes, Zhou said, adding that currently, the majority of the users of the Xinhua Dictionary are pupils.

Using dictionaries can help students "lay a solid foundation in language learning," he added.

In order to adapt to users' various needs and the changing of the times, Zhou said the creation of the dictionary's electronic version is in the pipeline.

While a Xinhua Dictionary's hardcover edition costs 24.9 yuan ($3.83), a paperback is 12 yuan, mainly serving rural students to boost rural education, he said.

The dictionary, compiled by experts of a language-affairs commission under the State Council, was the first modern Chinese dictionary to give definitions in simplified Chinese characters after 1949. It has been revised every 5 to 10 years.

Its publisher, the Commercial Press, was founded in 1897 and is a symbol of the modern Chinese publishing industry.