China’s Ministry of Education and the Institute of Applied Linguistics are the two national statutory institutions involved in the research, development and implementation of the Putonghua Shuiping Ceshi (PSC) proficiency test in standard Chinese.

The main responsibility of the Institute of Applied Linguistics to China’s Ministry of Education and National Language Committee includes the following:

  • Practice and theoretical research of language application
  • Research of language standardisation
  • Conduct training, assessment and research on commonly used language within the country
  • To provide evaluation and consultative services to the community
  • Publishing books entitled “Language Application” and “Language Information”
  • Training graduates and other relevant professionals

The Institute of Applied Linguistics has set up an Applied Linguistics department in the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The institute has jointly collaborated with Communication University of China offers doctorate studies in Applied Linguistics. Together with the universities and educational institutions of Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions, the Institute of Applied Linguistics jointly collaborate in terms of training and assessment for Standard Chinese.