Over 80 percent of Chinese population speak Mandarin – People's Daily Online

At present, about 80.72 percent of China’s population speak Mandarin, and more than 95 percent of the literate population can use standardized Chinese characters. The illiterate population accounted for over 80 percent when the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was just founded, but now the proportion has been reduced to less than 4 percent. The language barriers hindering the communication among Chinese ethnic groups have almost been removed. Since the founding of the PRC, the country has greatly advanced its popularization of standard Chinese language, which tremendously promoted the construction of national economy, as well as the development of education,…