<p>When you only see "中东", that means "the Middle East".</p>

<p>When you want to express the "middle east area of China", you should say"中东部" or "中东部地区", never say "中东". “部”here means "part", so "中东部" gets the meaning of "the middle east part[of this country, China]".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-09T06:29:50.623Z
And `中东部地区 != Eastern China`. So the dictionary made a mistake.
Dante WWWW
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-09T07:18:06.990Z
Another word for eastern China, in the narrower sense of the area around Shanghai, is 华东.
Bathrobe
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-09T06:22:03.863Z
2012-02-09T06:45:21.747Z
2012-02-09T06:45:21.747Z
Huang
<p>"中东" means "the Middle East", and "华东" means "Eastern China”</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-26T06:16:23.233Z
2014-08-26T06:16:23.233Z
Wang Ye
<p>This phrase is invented by European， <strong>east</strong> means east from  Europe，so the 中东 means middle east from Europe，that is Iraq and some countries ……</p>

<p>There is some other words like 中东，eg，近东（seldom used），远东（referred to Korea,the area between China and Japan.),</p>

<p>远东 is more often replaced by “东亚”。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-27T03:59:21.643Z
2014-08-27T03:59:21.643Z
sfy
<ol>
<li><p>In all the news reports in Mainland China, "中东" refers to Middle East. This can be seen as a convention -- as a native speaker, if I hear "中东", I will definately think of the Middle East. You can take a look at the <a href="http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh/%E4%B8%AD%E4%B8%9C">Wikipedia Page of 中东</a>, and the <a href="http://baike.baidu.com/view/19973.htm">Baidu Baike Page of 中东</a>. Only one meaning is referred on both pages -- Middle East.</p></li>
<li><p>If anyone wants to refer to Eastern China, they will say "中国东部（地区）". The dictionary lists Eastern China for "中东", which looks like a result from translation software... So the dictionary makes a mistake.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I don't know if 中东 has any other meaning in Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc. But when I search for 中东, I also noticed that in Japanese, the combination of these two Characters also refers to Middle East.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-09T06:17:20.420Z
okay cool.. If might submit an edit to CC-CEDICT then (removing Eastern China)
jsj
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-09T06:23:49.510Z
I think the dictionary makes a mistake as I can't find any clue of using 中东 to describe East China... I personally have never heard anyone using the word like this...
Dante WWWW
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-09T10:50:07.827Z
I edited the dictionary accordingly
jsj
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-09T06:15:05.103Z
2012-02-09T06:15:05.103Z
Dante WWWW
<p>The <a href="http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&amp;wdrst=0&amp;wdqb=%E4%B8%AD%E4%B8%9C" rel="nofollow">dictionary</a> lists both Middle East and Eastern China for 中东. Is one of these meanings more common? What would be a native speaker's first impression of the word? Does the meaning vary from mainland, Taiwan, S'pore etc?</p>

<p>UPDATE: I have since removed the meaning "Eastern China" from CC-CEDICT</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-26T12:00:47.327Z
As **Wang Ye** mentioned, we use 华东, 华西, 华南, 华北, 华中, 东南, 西南, 东北, 西北 for eastern, western, northern, southern, southeastern, southwestern, northeastern, northeastern of China.
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-03T10:26:11.657Z
The meaning of Eastern China is probably a historical usage. I can come up with a term 中东铁路 where 中东 literally means Eastern China, and actually refers to Manchuria.
Griffith
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-09T09:43:57.047Z
+1 Interesting question :D
Alenanno
<place-names><proper-nouns><meaning>
中东 - "Middle East" or "Eastern China"?
# 中东 - "Middle East" or "Eastern China"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-02-09)

The [dictionary](http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E4%B8%AD%E4%B8%9C) lists both Middle East and Eastern China for 中东. Is one of these meanings more common? What would be a native speaker's first impression of the word? Does the meaning vary from mainland, Taiwan, S'pore etc?

UPDATE: I have since removed the meaning "Eastern China" from CC-CEDICT

**Tags:** place-names, proper-nouns, meaning

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: +1 Interesting question :D  
> **username_1**: As **username_7** mentioned, we use 华东, 华西, 华南, 华北, 华中, 东南, 西南, 东北, 西北 for eastern, western, northern, southern, southeastern, southwestern, northeastern, northeastern of China.  
> **username_2**: The meaning of Eastern China is probably a historical usage. I can come up with a term 中东铁路 where 中东 literally means Eastern China, and actually refers to Manchuria.  

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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2012-02-09. Score: 11 | Accepted answer

1. In all the news reports in Mainland China, "中东" refers to Middle East. This can be seen as a convention -- as a native speaker, if I hear "中东", I will definately think of the Middle East. You can take a look at the [Wikipedia Page of 中东](http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh/%E4%B8%AD%E4%B8%9C), and the [Baidu Baike Page of 中东](http://baike.baidu.com/view/19973.htm). Only one meaning is referred on both pages -- Middle East.
2. If anyone wants to refer to Eastern China, they will say "中国东部（地区）". The dictionary lists Eastern China for "中东", which looks like a result from translation software... So the dictionary makes a mistake.

I don't know if 中东 has any other meaning in Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc. But when I search for 中东, I also noticed that in Japanese, the combination of these two Characters also refers to Middle East.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: okay cool.. If might submit an edit to CC-CEDICT then (removing Eastern China)  
> **username_5**: I think the dictionary makes a mistake as I can't find any clue of using 中东 to describe East China... I personally have never heard anyone using the word like this...  
> **username_0**: I edited the dictionary accordingly  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2012-02-09. Score: 5

When you only see "中东", that means "the Middle East".

When you want to express the "middle east area of China", you should say"中东部" or "中东部地区", never say "中东". “部”here means "part", so "中东部" gets the meaning of "the middle east part[of this country, China]".

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: And `中东部地区 != Eastern China`. So the dictionary made a mistake.  
> **username_6**: Another word for eastern China, in the narrower sense of the area around Shanghai, is 华东.  

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### Answer by username_7 on 2014-08-26. Score: 3

"中东" means "the Middle East", and "华东" means "Eastern China”


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### Answer by username_8 on 2014-08-27. Score: 1

This phrase is invented by European， **east** means east from Europe，so the 中东 means middle east from Europe，that is Iraq and some countries ……

There is some other words like 中东，eg，近东（seldom used），远东（referred to Korea,the area between China and Japan.),

远东 is more often replaced by “东亚”。


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