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China to Launch Putonghua Promotion Week
China is to launch its third nationwide Putonghua (standard Chinese language, also known as Mandarin) Promotion Week in mid-September.
Putonghua promotion activities will be held in major cities throughout China.
Wang Zhan, vice-minister of education and director of the state language work committee said that China has set a target for making Putonghua the standard Chinese language nationwide by the middle of the new century.
Since 1998, the third week of September has been fixed as the National Putonghua Promotion Week. This year's promotion week will be from September 10 to 16, using the slogan: "Promoting Putonghua into the New Century."
Wang said that the promotion of Putonghua should be a long-term social activity, as well as a basic objective for socialist construction.
He called for cooperation among various departments to help make Putonghua the main language used on college campuses, in primary and middle schools, in business and the service industry.
One of China's premier linguists, Zhou Youguang, noted that there are two criteria for judging Putonghua promotion: how it is used in schools and colleges, and if Putonghua is used as the communication medium during public activities.
Surveys show that the popularity of Putonghua has reached 80 percent in China's large and medium-sized cities.
The state language work committee has recently started a nationwide investigation into the use of Chinese language to help the country achieve its Putonghua promotion goal.
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