座谈

• Pinyin: zuò tán
• Hanzi breakdown: 座 = 广 + 坐 (shelter + sit — a seat/gathering place); 谈 = 讠+ 炎 (speech radical + flames — to talk/converse)

Meaning

To hold a discussion; to have an informal meeting for open exchange of views. Refers to a seated, roundtable-style conversation among participants.

A common format in Chinese institutional and political life. 座谈会 (discussion forum/symposium) is a standard official gathering for soliciting opinions, conducting research, or exchanging views. Valued for its relatively informal, face-to-face format compared to a formal conference. Used across government, academia, business, and civil society.

Examples

1. 市长亲自主持召开了一场与基层群众代表的座谈会，认真听取了他们对城市建设和民生改善的意见。 The mayor personally chaired a discussion meeting with representatives from local communities and carefully listened to their views on urban development and improvements to people's livelihoods.
2. 出版社定期举办读者座谈活动，邀请忠实读者与作者面对面交流，共同探讨内容创作的未来方向。 The publishing house regularly holds reader discussion events, inviting loyal readers to exchange ideas face-to-face with authors and jointly explore the future direction of content creation.
3. 研究团队在正式发布调查报告之前，特意组织了多场专家座谈，对研究结论进行了深入的交叉验证。 Before formally releasing the survey report, the research team deliberately organized several expert roundtable discussions to conduct in-depth cross-checking of the study's conclusions.

Usage Guide

Context: government, academia, business, media, civil society

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 教育部特别组织了一批一线教师和教育专家开展座谈，广泛征集对新版课程标准修订草案的意见和建议。(The Ministry of Education specially organised a group of frontline teachers and education experts for a discussion forum to widely solicit opinions and suggestions on the revised draft of the new curriculum standards.)
• 这场院士座谈会汇聚了来自不同学科领域的顶尖学者，围绕人工智能的伦理边界展开了深度而坦诚的对话。(This symposium of academicians brought together leading scholars from different disciplines for an in-depth and candid dialogue on the ethical boundaries of artificial intelligence.)

Don't Say

• 我们座谈了很多问题 — 座谈 is used as a verb or noun but doesn't take a direct object this way; say 我们在座谈会上讨论了很多问题 or 我们就这些问题进行了座谈

Origin & History

座 (seat/gathering) + 谈 (to talk/discuss)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal