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Languages

Languages of China

BeijingLocal time

China's national standard spoken and written language is Putonghua and standardized Chinese characters. The revised language law took effect on 1 January 2026.

中国
COUNTRY LANGUAGE PROFILE
中文
Chinese
Text direction: LTR

Putonghua, or Standard Chinese, is the nationwide standard spoken language of China, and standardized Chinese characters are the legally promoted standard written form.

Standard Chinese
First listed core language
Not a speaker-share estimate
1
Writing system represented
Across the core language set
LTR
Primary text direction
Additional directions noted below

Language Overview

Standard Chinese

Read the Characters

Standard Chinese does not use a finite alphabet comparable with English. Written Chinese uses Han characters, so there is no truthful fixed “complete alphabet” to list.

Character inventory: no finite alphabet. This page therefore does not present a shortened subset as a complete alphabet.

How to Read the Language Landscape

PolicyLegal and administrative language status may differ between national and subnational government.
Everyday useA language can be socially dominant without being the only language used at home, school, work or in media.
Community diversityIndigenous, minority, migrant and sign languages can remain important even when they are not part of a short national headline list.

Frequently Asked Questions

What languages are used in China?

Putonghua, or Standard Chinese, is the nationwide standard spoken language of China, and standardized Chinese characters are the legally promoted standard written form.

What writing systems are used in China?

The represented writing system is Han characters and the primary direction shown is left to right.

More about China

Explore China across the other DigifyWorld country-data sections.

Public HolidaysPublic holidays 2026 and 2027→Digital AdoptionInternet, payments and digital government→Population & DemographicsPopulation, age structure and projections→Economy SnapshotGDP, trade and economic structure→Currency & ExchangeCurrency, exchange rates and money→Human DevelopmentHDI and quality-of-life indicators→Geography & EnvironmentLand, climate and environment→Practical Country InfoTime, driving, electricity and codes→EducationSchool system and education data→

Sources & methodology

View sources used for this page
China Ministry of Education: Revised standard language law

Current official source on the revised language law effective 1 January 2026, designating the national standard language as the legally mandated nationwide language.

Unicode CLDR: Country/Region Names

Localized country display-name reference. CLDR names are customary UI/display names, not claims about a state’s full constitutional long-form name.

Unicode: Supported Scripts

Reference for the writing-system/script families represented in the character component.

Unicode: Writing Direction and Bidirectional Text

Reference for left-to-right and right-to-left script direction and bidirectional text behavior.

Unicode Character Database: NamesList

Reference for Unicode character names used as small readout labels under selected character samples; these labels are not presented as a complete transliteration standard.