Zhang Binghuang, famous Taiwanese calligrapher announces that Jin is the word of the year on Dec 18, 2013. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

'Jin' (literally: upgrade, promote) has been named the word of the year by netizens on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, reflecting their feeling and expectations.

Lin Zhongsen, chairman of Strait Exchange Foundation, said at the announcement ceremony, "Jin delivers the feeling and expectation from the people across the strait and also indicates our relationship is upgrading and developing peacefully."

The selection of the word of the year is co-sponsored by the media on the mainland and in Taiwan. "Jin", gaining 397,000 votes, became the first choice after the two-week selection. A total of 5.7 million votes were registered, hitting record high. "Meng" (Dream), "Fu" (Blessing), and "Ai" (Love) came after "Jin".

The selection of the word of the year by people on both sides of the strait started six year ago. The winners since 2008 are Zhen (Shake), Sheng (Living), Zhang (Rise), Wei (Micro), Ping (Equal) and Jin (Upgrade).