BEIJING, Dec. 27 -- China on Saturday adopted a revised Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, specifying that the third week of September each year shall be designated as the publicity week for the promotion and popularization of the standard spoken and written Chinese language.

The revised law stipulates that international exhibitions, conferences and other events held within China that use foreign languages for signs, labels, or promotional materials should also include the standard Chinese language.

In addition, the revision specifies that international Chinese language education should focus on teaching standard Chinese.

It also requires online publications, including online games, to use standard Chinese as their basic form of expression to further regulate the use of the standard Chinese language in cyberspace.

The language law, which took effect in 2001, sets Putonghua, or Mandarin, and standardized Chinese characters as the standard spoken and written forms of Chinese and China's official language.

Currently, more than 80 percent of the country's population can communicate in Putonghua, and the country's literacy rate has now exceeded 97 percent.

The revised law, passed at a session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.