Enthusiasm for learning Chinese has surged overseas, with 117,660 learners taking part in the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) last year, a major increase on 2004, according to the test organizer.

The number of overseas HSK examinees was 26.52 percent higher than in 2004, sources with the HSK center of Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) said.

The HSK test is a national standardized test to assess the Chinese language proficiency of foreigners, overseas Chinese and students of Chinese ethnic minorities who use it as a second language.

The top international Chinese proficiency test, HSK was officially launched overseas in 1991. At present there are test centers in 35 Chinese cities and 37 countries and regions across Asia, Europe, America, Oceania and Africa.

At the end of 2005, more than 500,000 people had taken the test in over 120 countries and regions, as well as more than 500,000 people from Chinese ethnic minorities.

The HSK website, www.hsk.org.cn, has recently been upgraded.

Apart from extensive information, it now offers new online services such as test result enquiries, certificate verification and test booking.

BLCU professor Lu Jianji said at the World Chinese Conference last year that more than 30 million people are learning Chinese worldwide and more than 2,500 universities in 100 countries are teaching Chinese.

Enthusiasm for learning Chinese has surged overseas in recent years, especially for the purpose of job-seeking and promotion, according to Lu.

Source: Xinhua