发展
to develop; development; growth
HSK level
- Pinyin
- fāzhǎn
- Part of speech
- verb
- Level
- HSK 4
- Strokes
- 15
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 2
Stroke order for 发展
发展 is written with 15 strokes (发: 5, 展: 10). The animation replays automatically.
What does 发展 mean?
发展 (fāzhǎn) is a Chinese word functioning as both a verb ('to develop, to grow, to expand') and a noun ('development, growth').
It describes gradual expansion or advancement over time — of economies, cities, companies, technology, relationships, or a situation (经济发展 economic development, 发展事业 to grow a career). It is register-neutral and central to modern Chinese, especially in news, business, and policy.
Two notes for English speakers: 发展 covers both the process and the noun without changing form, so 快速发展 can mean 'develops rapidly' or 'rapid development' depending on the frame; and it can be transitive ('to develop members' 发展会员 = to recruit) in a sense English 'develop' does not carry. Distinguish it from 发生 (to happen), which is a single event, not a process.
Character by character
Memory hook: 发 (to start) + 展 (to unfold) = to 'start unfolding' — to develop.
Hear 发展 in real episodes
发展 appears in 2 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
在亚洲以外，英国是这种新购物方式发展得特别好的地方。
Outside Asia, Britain is a place where this new kind of shopping has done especially well.
Opened at 11, Half a Million Fans: How TikTok Shop Turned a Small-Town British Fidget-Toy Shop Into a HitAdvanced
为什么女子棒球比其他女子运动发展得慢？
Why has women's baseball developed more slowly than other women's sports?
The Real 'League of Their Own' Players Are in Their 90s — and Girls' Baseball Is Finally BoomingIntermediate
Example sentences
这几年这个城市发展得很快。
Zhè jǐ nián zhège chéngshì fāzhǎn de hěn kuài.
This city has developed very fast in the past few years.
spoken
我们要注意个人的全面发展。
Wǒmen yào zhùyì gèrén de quánmiàn fāzhǎn.
We should pay attention to a person's all-round development.
neutral
科技的发展改变了我们的生活。
Kējì de fāzhǎn gǎibiàn le wǒmen de shēnghuó.
The development of technology has changed our lives.
neutral
这家公司未来的发展前景很好。
Zhè jiā gōngsī wèilái de fāzhǎn qiánjǐng hěn hǎo.
This company has very good future prospects.
written
Common phrases with 发展
Synonyms
发达 is an adjective describing an already-advanced state (发达国家 developed country, 交通发达 well-developed transport). 发展 is the process or act of developing. A country 发展 (grows) until it becomes 发达 (developed).
增长 means 'to increase / grow' in quantity (人口增长 population growth). 发展 is broader — qualitative advancement, not just numeric increase.
Don't confuse 发展 with
FAQ
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 发展 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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