Zero in Chinese: 零 and 〇, and When to Write Each

The rule: quantity 零, label 〇

China's national standard on numerals in print, GB/T 15835-2011, settles it in one clause (§5.2.5): when a number is used as a quantity, its 0 is written 零; when it is used as a label or code, its 0 is written 〇. Its examples:

Figure	Written	Not	Why
3,052	三千零五十二	三千〇五十二	a quantity
95.06	九十五点零六	九十五点〇六	a quantity
2012 (the year)	二〇一二	二零一二	a year is read digit by digit, as a label

二零一二年 is also seen in informal writing, and both are read èr líng yī èr nián. Worksheets on this site print quantities, so they use 零 throughout, and the dates page uses 〇 for years, as the standard asks.

Zero inside a number

A gap inside a number is filled with one 零, however many zeros the gap holds. A zero at the end, or at the end of a 万 group, is silent.

Number	Characters	Pinyin
101	一百零一	yībǎi líng yī
1,001	一千零一	yīqiān líng yī
1,010	一千零一十	yīqiān líng yīshí
2,050	两千零五十	liǎngqiān líng wǔshí
10,001	一万零一	yīwàn líng yī
100,100	十万零一百	shí wàn líng yībǎi

The 零 carries meaning. 一百五 is a common short way of saying 150, while 一百零五 is 105, so dropping the 零 changes the number.

Zero in decimals, years and phone numbers

Decimals. The point is 点 diǎn and the digits after it are read one by one: 0.5 is 零点五 líng diǎn wǔ, 0.618 is 零点六一八 líng diǎn liù yī bā (both examples from the national standards).
Years. Digit by digit: 2008 is 二〇〇八年 èr líng líng bā nián, the example GB/T 16159-2012 gives for writing a year in pinyin.
Phone and room numbers. Each 0 is said líng; see phone numbers.

Where 〇 came from

For most of their history Chinese numerals had no zero sign: in the counting-rod system an empty place on the board meant zero. The circle 〇 appears later in written mathematics. Where it came from is disputed: some historians link it to Indian numerals brought to China in the 8th century, others to a square space-filler used in Chinese texts. The Chinese numerals page shows the rod system.

Questions from learners and teachers

How do you say zero in Chinese?

零 líng, with a rising (second) tone. The same word is used for the zero inside a number (一百零五, 105), for a decimal (零点五, 0.5) and when reading digits one by one, as in a year or a phone number.

Is 〇 a Chinese character?

Yes. 〇 (U+3007 in Unicode) is a CJK character in its own right, said líng like 零. It is not the letter O or the figure 0, though it looks like both. The national standard on numerals uses it for a 0 that is part of a label, such as the digits of a year, and 零 for a 0 that counts something.

Do you say every zero in a number like 1,005?

No. A run of zeros inside a number is read as one 零: 1,005 is 一千零五, not 一千零零五. Zeros at the end are not read at all: 1,500 is 一千五百. When digits are read one by one, as in a year or a phone number, every 0 is said.

How many strokes does 零 have?

Thirteen: the rain radical 雨 (eight strokes) on top of 令 (five). It is the most complex of the number characters, which is part of why the circle 〇 and the figure 0 are so often written instead in informal use.