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

　　中国计划在明年推出国家级的《中国大百科全书》在线版本,将可与维基百科匹敌。

　　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.

　　官方人员表示，2万多名专家学者参与了编纂工作，其内容达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，这本书是由从全国高校和研究机构挑选出来的专家学者编撰的，而不是由志愿者公开编辑。

　　Wikipedia is available in China, but some of its content it blocked.

　　在中国，维基百科可以访问，但其中有些内容被屏蔽了。

　　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说道，“《中国大百科全书》不是一本书，而是一座文化的长城”。

　　Mr Yang - who has listed Wikipedia as a competitor - also said China was facing international pressure to produce its own platform to guide "the public and society".

　　杨牧之先生——他将维基百科列为一个竞争者——也提到为了建立自己的平台来引导"公众与社会"，中国正面临着国际上的压力。

　　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年以纸张形式首次发表，并在2012年发布了第二版。

　　But critics said the government-funded works omitted or distorted some entries for political purposes.

　　但批评者说，出于政治原因，这项政府资助的工程忽略或者曲解了一些条目。

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

　　建立一个在线版本的想法在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 encyclopaedias - such as Baidu and Qihu 360, as well as the largest platform, Wikipedia.

　　《中国大百科全书》的在线版本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，也包括最大的平台维基百科。

　　Currently, users on the mainland can read some Wikipedia content, but searches for sensitive topics such as the Dalai Lama and President Xi Jinping are blocked.

　　目前，中国大陆的用户可以读取维基百科的一部分内容，但是搜索敏感主题会受到限制，比如达赖喇嘛、主席。

　　TahaYasseri, a research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, told the BBC: "The need for information in China makes people use Wikipedia through the usual anti-filtering tools, and this is far from ideal for an authoritarian state.

　　牛津大学互联网研究所的研究员TahaYasseri告诉BBC："在中国，对于信息的需求让人们通过常见的反过滤工具来使用维基百科，对于一个威权国家来说这远不够理想。"

　　"So, this initiative is to attract more users towards the state-approved content."

　　"所以，这一主动行动的目的在于把更多的用户吸引到国家认可的内容上来。“

　　His colleague Joss Wright, however, said the platform could also offer "a more uniquely ’Chinese’ experience that domestic users tend to like".

　　然而，他的同事Joss Wright认为这一平台也可以提供"一种为国内用户所喜爱的，更加独特的‘中国文化’体验 "。

　　In an article for a mainland newspaper last year, Mr Yang said Wikipedia’s appeal in China was "bewitching".

　　在去年为内地报纸所写的一篇文章中，杨牧之先生说，维基百科在中国的吸引力是"令人着迷的"。

　　But he added: "We have the biggest, most high-quality author team in the world.

　　但他补充说："我们有世界上最大、最优质的作者队伍。"

　　"Our goal is not to catch up, but overtake."

　　"我们的目标不是追赶而是超越"。

　　Last week, Turkish authorities blocked access to Wikipedia within the country without giving a reason.

　　上周，土耳其政府没有给出任何理由，在国内封锁了对维基百科的访问。

　　In 2014, Russia also announced plans for an alternative version of Wikipedia, with the stated aim of providing better information about the country than was available on the platform.

　　2014年，俄罗斯也宣布了一项替代维基百科的计划，并声明其目的在于，相比维基百科上的内容，要提供关于该国更令人满意的信息。

（编辑：何莹莹）