上报

• Pinyin: shàng bào
• Hanzi breakdown: 上 = a horizontal line above a base = upward/superior; 报 = 幸 (luck/arrest radical) + 卩 (seal/submit) = to notify/report — 上报: to submit a report to a higher level

Meaning

To report upward to a superior or higher authority; to submit a report to an upper-level organisation. Also: to be covered or published in a newspaper.

In administrative and bureaucratic contexts, 上报 specifically refers to passing information or reports from a lower level to a higher authority — a key step in China's hierarchical reporting system. In media contexts, it can mean to appear in a newspaper or be reported by the press. Common in official documents, news, and workplace communications.

Examples

1. 各地方政府须在每月底前将本辖区内的食品安全检查结果汇总整理，并按规定格式上报至省级市场监督管理局备案审核。 Local governments must compile and organize the food safety inspection results in their jurisdictions by the end of each month and report them, in the prescribed format, to the provincial market supervision and administration bureau for filing and review.
2. 工厂发生安全生产事故后，管理层第一时间向当地安全生产监督部门上报了事故详情及受伤人数，并启动了应急处置预案。 After a workplace safety accident occurred at the factory, management immediately reported the details and the number of injured to the local work safety supervision department and activated the emergency response plan.
3. 这名在扶贫工作中表现突出的基层干部的先进事迹被整理成材料上报至省委组织部，随后被多家主流媒体相继报道。 Materials on the exemplary deeds of this grassroots official, who performed outstandingly in poverty alleviation work, were submitted to the provincial party committee’s organization department and were subsequently reported by multiple major media outlets.

Usage Guide

Context: government, administration, workplace, news media

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 按规定，基层医疗机构发现重大公共卫生异常必须限时逐级上报，不得隐瞒延误。(According to regulations, primary medical institutions must report major public health abnormalities up the chain within the required time limit and must not conceal or delay them.)
• 年终考核时，各子公司须将经营业绩、财务数据和明年规划整理后上报总部。(During the year-end review, each subsidiary must organize its operating results, financial data, and next year's plans before reporting them up to headquarters.)

Don't Say

• 他上报了他的老师 — 上报 refers to reporting to institutional or bureaucratic superiors, not personal authorities like teachers; use 向老师汇报 or 告诉老师 for academic contexts

Origin & History

上 (upward/upper level) + 报 (to report/to inform) = to report upward in a hierarchy; to submit information to a higher authority

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal