China is to launch an online version of its national encyclopaedia¹ next year, to compete with Wikipedia.

中国计划在明年推出国家级百科全书的网络版，来与维基百科相竞争。

Officials said more than 20,000 people had been hired to work on the project, which will feature 300,000 entries at about 1,000 words each.

据官方人员透露，共有2万多人受聘参与了该项目，其内容多达30万余条，每条约1000字。

Unlike Wikipedia, it will be created by selected scholars from state-run universities rather than being openly editable by volunteers.

与维基百科不同，这本书是由从公办高校挑选出来的学者负责编撰的，而不是由志愿者公开编辑的。

The Encyclopaedia of China "is not a book, but a Great Wall of culture", Yang Muzhi, the editor-in-chief of the project, who chairs the Book and Periodicals Distribution Association of China, said in an update earlier in April.

该项目的总主编、中国书刊发行业协会会长杨牧之，在4月初的一次最新报道中表示：“《中国大百科全书》不是一本书，而是一座文化的长城。”

The Encyclopaedia of China was first published in 1993, in paper form, with the support of scholars, and released a second edition in 2012.

在学者们的支持下，《中国大百科全书》于1993年以纸张的形式首次发表，并在2012年发布了第二版。

The idea for an online version was approved in 2011, but work on it began only recently.

创建一个网络版本的想法在2011年获得批准，但直到最近才开始着手进行。

It will take the state into direct competition with local companies that have launched their own online encyclopaedias² - such as Baidu and Qihu 360, as well as the largest platform, Wikipedia.

中国大百科全书》的网络版将会与已经推出了自己的在线百科全书的本土公司形成直接的竞争，比如百度和奇虎360，淡然也包括最大的平台维基百科。