Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Implementation of Law of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language

· Document Number：Announcement No. 59 of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Shanghai Municipality

· Area of Law： Culture Relics and Literary History

· Level of Authority： Provincial Local Regulations

· Date issued：12-29-2005

· Effective Date：03-01-2006

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Shanghai Municipality

Announcement of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Shanghai Municipality
(No. 59)
The Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Implementation of Law of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, as adopted at the 25th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on December 29, 2005, is hereby issued and shall become effective as of March 1, 2006.
Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Shanghai Municipality
December 29, 2005
Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language
(Adopted at the 25th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on December 29, 2005)
Article 1 For the purposes of popularizing standard Chinese pronunciation (hereinafter referred to as Putonghua) and normalized Chinese characters, enhancing the administration of the use of the standard spoken and written Chinese language, and giving full play to its role in our social life, these Procedures are formulated on the basis of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language and other relevant laws and administrative regulations, and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.
Article 2 These Procedures apply to the use of the standard spoken and written Chinese language and the administration and supervision thereof in the administrative area of this Municipality.
Article 3 This Municipality shall promote the normalization, enrichment and development of the standard spoken and written Chinese language, and create a language use environment suiting the needs of economic, social, and cultural development.
This Municipality shall encourage state organs, enterprises, institutions, mass organizations, as well as other social organizations and citizens to participate in the normalization and standardization of the spoken and written Chinese language.
Article 4 The municipal and district/county people's governments shall enhance the leadership in the work of standard spoken and written Chinese language, and incorporate the popularization of Putonghua and normalization of Chinese characters into city administration and the promotion of ethical and cultural progress.
The municipal and district/county people's governments shall ensure the supply of personnel and funds needed for standardizing the spoken and written Chinese language.
Article 5 The commissions of spoken and written language under the municipal and district/county people's governments shall be responsible for the administration and supervision of the use of standard spoken and written Chinese in their respective administrative areas, and, their offices shall be set up in the education administrative departments at the same levels.
The main duties of the commissions of spoken and written language under the municipal and district/county people's governments include:
1. Formulating a working plan for standardizing spoken and written Chinese, and organizing its implementation in their respective administrative areas;
2. Coordinating, guiding and supervising the work of all departments and trades with respect to the spoken and written language;
3. Organizing publicity and educational activities for the normalization of spoken and written Chinese;
4. Guiding the training and proficiency test in the use of Putonghua and normalized Chinese characters;
5. Promoting application research on the standard spoken and written Chinese language; and
6. Other duties provided by laws and regulations.
Town/township people's governments and sub-district offices shall, in accordance with the requirements and arrangements made by the district/county people's governments, take responsibility for relevant work as regards the standard spoken and written Chinese language in their respective areas.
Article 6 This Municipality shall commend the organizations and individual persons that have made remarkable achievements in the popularization, research and administration of the standard spoken and written Chinese language.
Article 7 This Municipality shall, according to law, safeguard the rights of citizens to learn and use the standard spoken and written Chinese language, and, no organizations and individual persons shall impair such rights.
Article 8 Putonghua shall be used as the basic spoken language in the following circumstances:
1. Spoken language used in official activities of state organs;
2. Spoken language used in education, teaching and other collective activities in schools and other institutions of learning;
3. Spoken language used in radio and TV broadcasting, hosting and interviewing, in films and television plays, as well as in Chinese audio-video products, and audio electronic publications; and
4. Working language used in all conferences, exhibitions and other large-scale activities held in this Municipality.
This Municipality shall take measures to encourage the use of Putonghua in public service trades when providing services.
Article 9 Where Putonghua shall be used as the basic spoken language according to Article 8 of these Procedures, dialects may be used under the following circumstances:
1. Where the use of dialects is really needed in the performance of official duties by State functionaries, in publication, teaching and research, as well as in traditional operas, films, TV programs and other forms of art;
2. Where dialects are used, with the approval of the municipal broadcasting and television administrative department, for broadcasting and hosting at radio and television stations.
Article 10 The proficiency level of Putonghua of the following persons shall reach their respective standards:
1. State functionaries shall achieve Level A or higher of Grade Three;
2. Teachers shall achieve Level B or higher of Grade Two, and administrative personnel other than teachers in schools and other institutions of learning shall achieve Level A or higher of Grade Three;
3. Students in regular institutions of higher learning and secondary vocational schools shall achieve Level A or higher of Grade Two; and
4. Broadcasters and program hosts and hostesses at radio and television stations, and actors and actresses of films, TV series and stage plays, shall achieve Level B or higher of Grade One.
Those who have not yet achieved such levels as provided for in the preceding clause shall receive training as is needed.
This Municipality shall adopt measures to enhance the proficiency level of Putonghua of those working in public service trades. The proficiency level of Putonghua of those providing direct services to citizens shall achieve Level A or higher of Grade Three, of whom announcers, commentators and telephone operators shall achieve Level B or higher of Grade Two.
Article 11 Normalized Chinese characters shall be used as the basic written language in the following circumstances:
1. Written language for official activities of state organs;
2. Written language for education and teaching in schools and other institutions of learning;
3. Written language for publications in Chinese published in this Municipality;
4. Written language for captions of films and televisions;
5. Written language for the names of legal entities and other organizations and their shop signs;
6. Written language in advertisements and on facilities in public places;
7. Written language for service provided in public service trades;
8. Written language for information technology products in Chinese designed and made in this Municipality and used in the mainland of China, and for the web pages of websites registered in this Municipality;
9. Written language for packaging and instructions of commodities sold in this Municipality; and
10. Written language for all conferences, exhibitions and other large-scale activities held in this Municipality.
Article 12 The retention or use of unsimplified Chinese characters or their variant forms shall comply with relevant provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language.
It is advocated that normalized Chinese characters are used in handwritten inscriptions and on shop signs;
Where unsimplified handwritten Chinese characters or their variant forms are used in the name plate of legal entities or other organizations, another one written in normalized Chinese characters to match it shall be placed at appropriate positions.
Article 13 The proficiency level of state functionaries, teachers, students of regular institutions of higher learning, editors, reporters, Chinese caption makers, proofreaders, as well as transcribers, plaque makers and advertisement copywriters in the use of Chinese characters shall meet respective requirements provided by the State.
Article 14 Publications in Chinese and official documents of state organs shall comply with the norms and standards of the State governing Putonghua, normalized Chinese Characters, Chinese Pinyin (phonetic alphabet system for transcribing Chinese characters) , punctuation marks and the use of numerals.
Internet jargon not conforming to the norms governing modern Chinese vocabulary and grammar shall not be used in the official documents of state organs and textbooks.
Internet jargon not conforming to the norms governing modern Chinese vocabulary and grammar shall not be used in news reports except where necessary.
Article 15 Where foreign languages need to be used in publications in Chinese and in official documents of state organs, necessary explanatory notes in standard spoken and written Chinese language shall be provided.
Normalized Chinese characters shall be used as the basic characters in public service trades. Where foreign languages need to be used in shop signs, bulletins, signboards, etc., explanatory notes in normalized Chinese characters shall be provided.
Article 16 Relevant departments under the municipal and district/county people's governments shall, under the coordination and guidance of the commissions of spoken and written language at the same levels, administrate and supervise the use of the standard spoken and written Chinese language according to their respective duties:
1. The administrative departments of personnel shall be responsible for organizing the education and training of state functionaries in the proficiency level of Putonghua and Chinese characters;
2. The administrative departments of education shall be responsible for the administration and supervision of the use of spoken and written language in schools and other institutions of learning, and incorporate its normalization into educational superintendence, inspection and appraisal;
3. The administrative departments of culture, broadcasting, film and television, press and publication, information industry, etc. shall be responsible for the administration and supervision of the use of spoken and written language in mass media such as broadcasting, television, newspapers and periodicals, the Internet, etc. and in information technology products in Chinese;
4. The administrative departments of industry and commerce shall be responsible for the administration and supervision of the use of spoken and written language in the names of enterprises and commodities as well as in advertisements;
5. The administrative departments of civil affairs shall be responsible for the administration and supervision of the use of spoken and written language in the names of mass organizations and non-enterprise units run by local people;
6. The administrative departments of municipal works, city appearance and sanitation, greening, place names, public security, etc. shall be responsible for the administration and supervision of the use of spoken and written language over the facilities, etc. in public places of this Municipality;
7. The administrative departments of labor and social security shall be responsible for incorporating the proficiency level of Putonghua and Chinese characters into the basic training and appraisal of relevant vocational skills;
8. The administrative departments of quality and technical supervision shall be responsible for the administration and supervision of the use of spoken and written language in product marks and instructions, and formulate relevant technical standards embodied the normalization requirements of spoken and written language; and
9. The administrative departments of commerce, finance, tourism, physical culture, public health, railway, civil aviation, urban communications, post, telecommunications, etc. or the competent administrative departments of trades shall be responsible for the administration and supervision of the use of spoken and written language in public service industries.
Article 17 The commissions of spoken and written language under the municipal and district/county people's governments shall make appraisals of the work of relevant units in their own administrative areas as regards spoken and written language and may make public the appraisal results.
The commissions of spoken and written language at all levels shall establish monitoring networks to monitor the use of spoken and written language by mass media and in public places, and shall make public the monitoring results.
Article 18 The test agency of proficiency level of Putonghua and Chinese characters established in this Municipality shall be specifically responsible for the implementation of tests of proficiency level of Putonghua and Chinese characters in the whole Municipality.
Article 19 Where relevant units or persons in this Municipality fail to use the standard spoken and written Chinese language in accordance with the provisions of these Procedures, they shall be criticized and educated, and ordered to correct by the units they work in or by superior competent administrative departments; where the wrongdoer refuses to correct, he/she shall be handled by the units they work in or by superior competent administrative departments.
Where the use of characters on shop signs or facilities in public places violates the relevant provisions of these Procedures regarding the use of the standard spoken and written Chinese language, the urban administrative law-enforcement departments shall order a correction; where the wrongdoer refuses to make correction, he/she shall be given a disciplinary warning and be urged to make corrections within a prescribed time limit.
Where the use of characters in the names of enterprises and commodities as well as in advertisements violates the relevant provisions of these Procedures regarding the use of the standard spoken and written Chinese language, the administrative departments of commerce and industry shall handle the matter according to law.
Anyone in violation of relevant provisions of other laws and regulations regarding the use of the standard spoken and written Chinese language shall be handled according to such provisions.
Article 20 Where the staff members of relevant departments of this Municipality abuse their power or fail to perform their statutory duties, they shall be given an administrative punishment by the units they work in or by superior competent administrative departments according to law.
Article 21 Any citizen may criticize and put forward suggestions where the use of standard spoken and written Chinese language is at variance with relevant norms and standards of the State, and in violation of relevant provisions of these Procedures.
Where a unit fails to use the standard spoken and written Chinese language, and in violation of relevant provisions of these Procedures, and refuses to make corrections, the commissions of spoken and written language may make its name public by mass media.
Article 22 These Procedures shall become effective as of March 1, 2006.