Order of the President of the People's Republic of China
Number 37
The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, adopted at the 18th Session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on October 31, 2000, is hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of January 1, 2001。
中华人民共和国主席 江泽民
31 October 2000
Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard spoken and written language
(Adopted at the 18th Session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress on October 31, 2000)
Chapter I General rules
Chapter II The Use of standard spoken and written Chinese
Chapter III Management and supervision
Chapter IV Supplementary Provisions
Article 1 This Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution for the purpose of promoting the standardization, standardization and healthy development of the standard spoken and written national language, enabling it to play a better role in social life and promoting economic and cultural exchanges among ethnic groups and regions。
Article 2 The standard spoken and written languages of the State referred to in this Law shall be Putonghua and standard Chinese characters。
Article 3 The State promotes Putonghua and carries out standardized Chinese characters。
Article 4 Citizens have the right to learn and use the standard spoken and written language of the state。
The state provides conditions for citizens to learn and use standard spoken and written Chinese。
Local people's governments at all levels and their relevant departments shall take measures to promote Putonghua and standardize Chinese characters。
Article 5 The use of standard spoken and written national languages shall be conducive to safeguarding state sovereignty and national dignity, to national unity and ethnic solidarity, and to building socialist material and spiritual civilization。
Article 6 The State promulgates norms and standards for standard spoken and written Chinese, regulates its social application, supports teaching and scientific research in standard spoken and written Chinese, and promotes its standardization, enrichment and development。
Article 7 The State awards organizations and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to the cause of standard spoken and written language of the country。
Article 8 All nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages。
The use of the spoken and written languages of ethnic minorities shall be in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution, the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy and other laws。
Chapter II The Use of standard spoken and written Chinese
Article 9 Putonghua and standardized Chinese characters shall be used as official language by state organs。Except as otherwise provided by law。
Article 10 Schools and other institutions of education shall use Putonghua and standardized Chinese characters as the basic educational and teaching terms。Except as otherwise provided by law。
Mandarin and standard characters are taught in schools and other educational institutions through Chinese language courses。The Chinese language teaching materials used shall conform to the norms and standards of the standard spoken and written language of the State。
Article 11 Publications in the Chinese language shall conform to the norms and standards of the standard spoken and written language of the State。
Where it is necessary to use a foreign language in a Chinese language publication, necessary annotations shall be made in the standard Chinese language。
Article 12 Putonghua shall be the basic broadcasting language of radio stations and television stations。
Where it is necessary to use foreign languages as broadcast language, approval must be obtained from the radio and television department under The State Council。
Article 13 In the public service industry, standardized Chinese characters shall be the basic service words。For the needs of public services, signboards, advertisements, notices, signs, etc. that use foreign languages and use Chinese at the same time shall use standardized Chinese characters。
We will encourage public service industries to use Mandarin as their service language。
Article 14 In the following cases, the standard spoken and written language of the State shall be used as the basic words:
(1) Words used in radio, film and television;
(2) Words for facilities in public places;
(3) words used in signboards and advertisements;
(4) Names of enterprises and institutions;
(5) Packaging and description of commodities sold within the territory。
Article 15 The standard spoken and written national language used in information processing and information technology products shall conform to the norms and standards of the State。
Article 16 In the relevant provisions of this chapter, dialects may be used under the following circumstances:
(1) those that are really needed by the staff of state organs in the performance of their official duties;
(2) broadcast terms approved by the radio and television department of The State Council or the provincial radio and television department;
(3) those required for use in opera, film and television or other artistic forms;
(4) those really needed for publication, teaching or research。
Article 17 In the relevant provisions of this chapter, under the following circumstances, traditional and different characters may be retained or used:
(1) cultural relics and historic sites;
(2) different characters in the surname;
(3) calligraphy, seal cutting and other artistic works;
(4) inscriptions and signboards in handwriting;
(5) those required for publication, teaching or research;
(6) Special circumstances approved by the relevant departments of The State Council。
Article 18 The Chinese Pinyin Scheme shall be used as a spelling and phonetic instrument in the standard national language。
The Hanyu Pinyin Scheme is a unified standard for the spelling of personal names, place names and Roman letters in Chinese documents, and is used in areas where Chinese characters are inconvenient or unusable。
Chinese pinyin should be taught in primary education。
Article 19 Where Putonghua is used as the working language, the staff shall have the ability to speak Putonghua。
The Putonghua proficiency of announcers, program hosts, film, television and drama actors, teachers and state functionaries who use Putonghua as their working language shall respectively meet the grade standards set by the State;For those who have not yet reached the standard of Putonghua prescribed by the State, training shall be conducted separately。
Article 20 In teaching Chinese as a foreign language, Putonghua and standardized Chinese characters shall be taught。
Chapter III Management and supervision
Article 21 The language department under The State Council shall be responsible for the planning, guidance, administration and supervision of the work concerning standard spoken and written languages of the country。
The relevant departments under The State Council shall administer the use of standard spoken and written national languages within the system。
Article 22 Local language departments and other departments concerned shall administer and supervise the use of standard spoken and written Chinese in their respective administrative areas。
Article 23 The administrative departments for industry and commerce of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, according to law, administer and supervise the names of enterprises, the names of commodities and the terms and characters used in advertisements。
Article 24 The language and language department under The State Council shall promulgation the standards for the grading of Putonghua proficiency test。
Article 25 The translation of foreigners' names, geographical names and other proper nouns and scientific and technological terms into the standard Chinese language shall be examined and approved by the language department under The State Council or other relevant departments。
Article 26 Where a person violates the relevant provisions of Chapter II of this Law by not using a spoken or written language in accordance with the norms and standards of the standard spoken or written language of the State, a citizen may make criticism and suggestions。
Where the terms used by personnel as provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 19 of this Law violate the relevant provisions of Chapter II of this Law, the units concerned shall criticize and educate the personnel directly responsible;Those who refuse to make corrections shall be dealt with by the relevant units。
Where the facilities, signboards and characters used in advertisements of urban public places violate the relevant provisions of Chapter II of this Law, the relevant administrative department shall order them to make corrections;Those who refuse to make corrections shall be given a warning and urged to make corrections within a time limit。
Article 27 Whoever, in violation of the provisions of this Law, interferes with others' learning and use of the standard spoken and written national language shall be ordered by the relevant administrative department to make corrections within a time limit and be given a warning。
Chapter IV Supplementary Provisions
Article 28 This Law shall come into force as of January 1, 2001。
