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1,313,973,713 people in China until July 2006. I believed today the number is bigger. Do you believe when i say its about half of the number cannot speak Mandarin?
According to a recent survey by the education ministry, 53 percent of 500,000 people queried could “effectively communicate” in Mandarin, Xinhua news agency reported.
In urban areas 66 percent of residents spoke fluent Mandarin, while in rural areas only 45 percent of those surveyed could speak the language fluently, the report said.
No comparative figures for previous years were made available.
For most of the past century, the government has tried to promote Mandarin across the country, using it as the standard in schools.
The advent of television has also helped ensure most young Chinese are fluent in Mandarin.
The survey found that about 70 percent of people aged 15-29 speak Mandarin, compared to only 31 percent aged 60-69, it said.
The survey also found that 57 percent of Chinese men speak Mandarin, compared with 49 percent of women.
Although most Chinese dialects use the same written characters, the country contains a wide variety of spoken dialects and ethnic languages.
