Civil servants must learn English

XI'AN - A new policy requiring civil servants in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, to be able to speak basic English by 2015 has sparked a debate between those who say it will make the city more international and opponents, who find the measure burdensome and unnecessary.

In a meeting held by the city government on Monday, a new policy that aims to improve foreign language skills in the city was approved. The policy document said the city will provide better language services in the future for foreigners visiting and living in the city.

After completing government training, all civil servants in the city who have a university degree and are younger than 40 will be expected to know how to say more than 300 commonly used English sentences by the year 2015.