HSK candidates top 1 mln amid growing interest in Chinese launguage driven by employment, business and industry needs

The number of candidates taking the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) surpassed 1 million for the first time in 2026, reflecting growing global interest in learning Chinese, China Central Television (CCTV) News reported Sunday. The language is increasingly becoming a practical tool for employment, cross-border business and industrial cooperation, educators told the Global Times.

The milestone was announced during the 2026 World Chinese Language Conference, held in Beijing from November 13 to 15, which brought together around 5,000 representatives from more than 160 countries and regions.

Similar to TOEFL or IELTS for foreign applicants to universities in English-speaking countries, HSK has established more than 1,500 test centers in 169 countries, the widest country coverage among global language proficiency tests. It has served more than 9 million test-takers cumulatively. Meanwhile, the number of people overseas learning and using Chinese has reached 210 million.

The growing demand is also reflected in the changing profiles of learners.

Adult Chinese courses in New York have expanded rapidly in recent years, attracting not only beginners but also students who have reached HSK Level 5 or 6 and even higher, Cheng Dahai, co-founder of a Chinese language learning and testing center in Manhattan, New York, told CCTV News.

Some students are increasingly interested in gaining a deeper understanding of industries such as science and technology and manufacturing, while acquiring the specialized vocabulary needed to work in these fields, Cheng said.

Li Xiaobing, founder of AI Chinese, an online Chinese-learning platform, told the Global Times that the 1 million HSK candidates represent only part of the global Chinese-learning market, as many people learn the language for employment at Chinese companies overseas or to conduct business with Chinese partners rather than to take proficiency tests.

Data from online searches for Chinese-learning resources showed exponential growth in 2024 compared with a decade earlier, Li said.

Li said the platform's model combining livestreamed lessons by international students with AI-assisted bilingual Chinese teaching had attracted substantial organic traffic. In 2025, its livestreaming sessions reached more than 15 million views across five language markets. So far in 2026, the figure has exceeded 60 million, with learners from Southeast Asia, Arabic-speaking countries, Spanish-speaking regions and English-speaking countries joining the sessions.

The platform's AI Chinese app has also surpassed 100,000 monthly active users this year, a 100-fold increase from early 2025, according to Li.

He identified three major trends in the market: rising demand for employment-oriented Chinese learning, growing needs among professionals involved in international trade and industrial cooperation, and continued interest in Chinese language and culture for academic and long-term educational purposes.

"The biggest change is the shift from general-purpose, exam-oriented Chinese to scenario-based and industry-specific 'Chinese plus' learning," Li said. Today's learners want to speak Chinese in factories, livestreaming sessions, trade negotiations and technical exchanges, rather than simply pass a proficiency test.

The trend has also drawn attention from educators at the World Chinese Language Conference. During the event, the Ministry of Education's Center for Language Education and Cooperation, together with multiple institutions, launched an initiative for a "Chinese Plus" industry-education integration partnership program, aiming to help countries cultivate local talent equipped with both knowledge in Chinese language and culture, as well as professional skills.

Foreign Chinese-language teachers also see practical career opportunities as a major motivation for learners.

As China's technological and economic capabilities continue to grow, more people in Indonesia, her home country, are eager to learn Chinese, said Lanlan, an Indonesian teacher of Chinese. Studying in China and mastering the language can open up more employment opportunities upon returning home, she said, adding that Chinese teachers can also earn additional income through translation and private tutoring.

In her teaching, Lanlan incorporates new expressions used in contemporary China, as well as Chinese songs, stories and films, to make lessons more engaging and relevant.

Another teacher, Liya, also from Indonesia, said AI-assisted teaching has helped improve the learning experience by generating scenario-based dialogues that allow foreign students to explore authentic Chinese-language situations.