Use of Mandarin spreading worldwide

The use of Mandarin is becoming more widespread, with an increasing number of foreigners learning the language.

Globally, more than 5 million people took Chinese tests in 2013, an increase from less than 1 million in 2010, says the annual report on the development of Chinese culture by Hubei Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies.

Chinese tests, including the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK), HSK Speaking Test, Youth Chinese Test and Business Chinese Test, have been available to foreigners since 1991, during which only 128 foreigners took the test.

The number of Confucius Institutes has also expanded from about 300 in 2010 to 837 in 2013, according to the report.

By 2010, a total of 245 English words borrowed from Chinese have been included in the Oxford English Dictionary, says the report.

In the past five years, more borrowed words appeared in foreign media. For example, Chengguan, which stands for China’s much-maligned municipal police, has been used as a borrowed English word.