Home>News Center>China
       
 

NPC deputy calls for promoting Chinese
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-03-10 05:57

China should step up its efforts to promote the use of Chinese language among foreigners in a bid to spread Chinese culture and develop the country's "soft power," a national lawmaker has said.

Hu Youqing, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), said the overseas expansion of the Chinese language can help foreigners better understand China as well as its culture.

"In fact, promoting the use of Chinese among overseas people has gone beyond purely cultural issues," he told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

"It can help build up our national strength and should be taken as a way to develop our country's soft power."

Hu, a Chinese-language professor with Nanjing University, serves as director of the National Advisory Committee for the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK), or the Chinese Proficiency Test.

To help non-native Chinese people learn Chinese, China introduced the HSK, the equivalent of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), in 1991 as the official Chinese language examination.

Over the past decade, the test has gained popularity along with the growing global interest in China.

Up to 120,000 people took up the HSK last year, compared with only 2,072 on the first year of introducing the test.

By the end of last year, about 500,000 people from 120 countries and regions had taken the test. More than 150 HSK Testing Centres have been set up in 37 foreign countries.

Despite the increasing popularity of the HSK, Hu acknowledged that the promotion of the Chinese language still has a long way to go.

"We have to realize that more overseas people choose to learn Chinese just because of their need for economic exchanges with China rather than out of their love for Chinese culture," he said.

The professor explained that China's fast economic growth over the past two decades is a key factor stimulating the demand to learn Chinese among foreigners.

Now, about 90,000 foreign students come to China every year to study the language.

It is estimated that about 30 million people overseas are studying Chinese, inspired by growing trade and closer exchanges between China and other countries.

More than 2,500 universities and colleges in more than 100 countries have established Chinese language programmes. In the United States, hundreds of primary and high schools have elective Chinese language courses.

To better combine the teaching of the Chinese language and the promotion of Chinese culture, Hu said, the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL), founded in 1987, has already begun to establish the Confucius Institute abroad.

In co-operation with local universities or education bodies, the institute is aimed at promoting the language and strengthening cultural exchanges between China and other countries.

Hu said China plans to set up about 100 Confucius Institutes, mainly in its neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia, the United States, Europe and Africa.

Since the first Confucius Institute was set up in Seoul of the Republic of Korea on November 21, 2004, the country has so far established about 30 such institutes in 20 countries.

Another 10 will be set up soon in line with NOCFL's agreements with foreign partners.

(China Daily 03/10/2006 page3)



Sandstorm hit Hohhot
Counterfeit name brands confiscated in Beijing
Panda plays with "puzzle feeder"
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

Corruption in mining investment faces action

 

   
 

Japan FM's remarks on Taiwan condemned

 

   
 

Officials to be liable for bad investment

 

   
 

Legislators to step up supervisory work: Wu

 

   
 

US trade deficit reaches record US$68.5b

 

   
 

Binhai area promises big growth

 

   
  Officials to be liable for bad investment
   
  Tianjin to raise funds to develop new area
   
  Migrant workers' families need aid
   
  Forestation proposed to curb salt tide in the south
   
  Projects to further protect migrant workers
   
  NPC deputy calls for promoting Chinese
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 韩国免费人成在线观看网站| free哆啪啪免费永久| 欧美人妻aⅴ中文字幕| 伊人精品视频一区二区三区| 老子午夜伦不卡影院| 国产成人免费网站| 最色网在线观看| 在线www天堂资源网| 一个人www免费看的视频| 把美女日出白浆| 久久人午夜亚洲精品无码区| 最近免费中文字幕视频高清在线看| 亚洲欧美校园春色| 男人扒开女人下面狂躁动漫版| 强行扒开双腿猛烈进入| 久久婷婷五月综合97色一本一本| 欧美中日韩免费观看网站| 亚洲理论片在线观看| 男生秘密网站入口| 午夜在线亚洲男人午在线| 色偷偷亚洲第一综合| 国产偷亚洲偷欧美偷精品| 国产97在线观看| 国产男人的天堂| 西西人体www高清大胆视频 | 亚洲第一成人在线| 男人扒开女人的腿做爽爽视频| 六月婷婷综合激情| 网站大全黄免费| 可播放的gαy片男男| 羞羞视频网站免费入口| 国产va免费精品高清在线 | 夫醉酒被公侵犯的电影中字版| 一级一片一a一片| 色吧亚洲欧美另类| 成Av免费大片黄在线观看| 丰满人妻被黑人中出849| 日本一二三区高清| 久久久久久久久人体| 日本三级黄色片网站| 久久久久亚洲精品美女|