Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language of the People’s Republic of China

（2000年10月31日第九屆全國人民代表大會常務(wù)委員會第十八次會議通過2000年10月31日中華人民共和國主席令第37號公布自2001年1月1日起施行）

第一章　總則

　　第一條　為推動國家通用語言文字的規(guī)范化、標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化及其健康發(fā)展，使國家通用語言文字在社會生活中更好地發(fā)揮作用，促進各民族、各地區(qū)經(jīng)濟文化交流，根據(jù)憲法，制定本法。　

　　第二條　本法所稱的國家通用語言文字是普通話和規(guī)范漢字。

(Adopted at the 18th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China on October 31, 2000, promulgated by Order No. 37 of the President of the People’s Republic of China on October 31, 2000, and effective as of January 1, 2001)

Contents

Chapter I General Provisions

Chapter II Use of the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language

Chapter III Administration and Supervision

Chapter IV Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution for the purpose of promoting the normalization and standardization of the standard spoken and written Chinese language and its sound development, making it play a better role in public activities, and promoting economic and cultural exchange among all the Chinese ethnic groups and regions.

Article 2 For purposes of this Law, the standard spoken and written Chinese language means Putonghua (a common speech with pronunciation based on the Beijing dialect) and the standardized Chinese characters.