What are the legislative considerations behind the provisions in the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law concerning the nationwide promotion of the standard spoken and written Chinese language? How does the law simultaneously safeguard the rights of all ethnic groups to use and develop their own spoken and written languages? At a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on June 24, Lei Jianbin, Vice Chairperson of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, addressed these questions. 

Lei Jianbin, Vice Chairperson of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress: Language is a highly complex social phenomenon, and people view it from different perspectives. Some describe language as the vehicle of thought, while others regard it as a carrier of culture. There are many different ways of understanding its role. From the perspective of communication, a shared language is the foundation for communication between people. Without a common language, effective communication is difficult, and without effective communication, mutual understanding cannot be achieved. The promotion of a common national language is a fundamental task of nation-building and a challenge faced by countries around the world. Why do I say this? Consider the following figures: across more than 200 countries and regions worldwide, there are over 2,500 ethnic groups and more than 7,000 languages. In countries with such linguistic and ethnic diversity, promoting a common language is an essential component of national development. Another statistic is worth noting. More than 100 sovereign states have explicitly designated a common language in their constitutions, although different terms are used, such as “official language,” “national language,” or “common language.” Regardless of the terminology, these constitutional provisions establish the legal status of a language used nationwide. For example, the Constitution of France explicitly states that the language of the French Republic is French. Similar constitutional provisions can also be found in countries such as Russia, Switzerland, India and Türkiye. In the United States, an executive order issued by the President designates English as the country’s official language. These are just a few examples of how other countries address this issue. In China, the Constitution explicitly provides that the state promotes Putonghua, the standard spoken language used nationwide. Accordingly, promoting the standard spoken and written Chinese language is a constitutional responsibility. To implement this constitutional mandate, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress enacted the Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, the country’s dedicated legislation in this field. The law was most recently revised in December 2025. This is the overall legislative background. 

From a practical perspective, as China advances its endeavors to build a great country and achieve national rejuvenation, promoting the standard spoken and written Chinese language serves as a fundamental measure for improving the scientific and cultural literacy of people of all ethnic groups, advancing modernization for all ethnic groups, and fostering a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation. To further underscore the importance of promoting the standard spoken and written Chinese language nationwide, Article 15 of the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law explicitly provides that the state shall comprehensively promote the standard spoken and written Chinese language. It also stipulates that no organization or individual may obstruct citizens from learning or using the standard language. In addition, the law specifies that schools and other educational institutions shall use the standard spoken and written Chinese language as the basic language of instruction, and sets out relevant requirements regarding its use in official business and in public settings. These provisions implement the relevant requirements of the Constitution concerning the promotion of the standard spoken and written Chinese language and are fully aligned with the newly revised Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language. They provide an important means of fostering a shared cultural foundation and strengthening the sense of community for the Chinese nation. They also help enable the standard language to play its full role in promoting the building of the Chinese national community, while creating better conditions for all ethnic groups to participate in and benefit from the country’s national rejuvenation. This is the overall context. 

On the question of protecting the rights of ethnic minority communities to learn and use their own languages, one point that deserves particular emphasis is that promoting the standard spoken and written Chinese language should not be viewed as being in opposition to the learning and use of ethnic minority languages. Safeguarding the right of all ethnic groups to use their own spoken and written languages is explicitly provided for in the Constitution. Article 4 of the Constitution stipulates that all ethnic groups have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages. In addition, Article 9 of the Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language provides that all ethnic groups have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages. It further provides that the use of ethnic minority languages shall be governed by the Constitution, the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, and other relevant laws. Article 15 of the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law also explicitly provides that the state respects and protects the learning and use of ethnic minority languages, promotes their standardization and digital development, and supports the preservation, compilation, research, and utilization of ancient ethnic minority texts. Article 29 of the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law further provides that the state encourages all ethnic groups to learn each other’s languages. Together, these provisions fully reflect the state’s commitment to protecting and supporting the learning and use of ethnic minority languages. As you know, the National People’s Congress has nearly 3,000 deputies, including 442 deputies from ethnic minorities, accounting for 14.85 percent of the total. In accordance with the Constitution and the Law on Deputies to the National People’s Congress and to the Local People’s Congresses at Various Levels, as Chairperson Chen Ruifeng noted earlier, “not a single ethnic group can be left unrepresented.” No matter how small its population, every ethnic minority has at least one deputy to the National People’s Congress. During each annual session of the National People’s Congress, some ethnic minority deputies perform their duties using their own spoken and written languages. The Congress provides the necessary support to ensure that they are able to exercise their functions in the languages with which they are most familiar. For example, many meeting documents are made available in multiple ethnic minority language versions. When the draft Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law was deliberated by the National People’s Congress, it was translated into seven ethnic minority languages: Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, Kazakh, Korean, Yi and Zhuang. As you can see, these are the ethnic minority language versions of the draft law that were provided during the deliberation process. The National People’s Congress fully ensures that deputies from ethnic minorities are able to perform their duties using the spoken and written languages with which they are most familiar. In short, both promoting the standard spoken and written Chinese language and safeguarding the right of ethnic minorities to use their own spoken and written languages are requirements established by the Constitution and the law, and both are protected by law. The two should not be viewed as mutually exclusive or placed in opposition to one another.