(Photo: chinanews.com)

HONG KONG, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- "Shun" or "smooth" in English is voted as the Chinese character of the Year 2018 in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) announced here Friday.

"shun" won out with 5,838 votes, followed by "min" or "people" and "lou" or "building" for the second and third, according to DAB, organizer of the sixth version of the annual vote, in which 18,737 Hong Kong residents participated this year.

The event serves not only for promoting traditional Chinese culture but also for understanding Hong Kong people's minds and expectations, said Frankie Ngan, the chairman of Young DAB.

"Shun" means smooth and success in Chinese, while "min" refers that the government of Hong Kong SAR spares no effort to improve people's livelihood and well being, according to DAB.

In addition, "lou" refers to apartments, reflecting Hong Kong people's deep concerns on housing issue and their wishes of having their own place to live.