SHANGHAI, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- The popularity of the Chinese language among non-native speakers around the world is on the rise, experts at a conference in Shanghai said.
Attendees of the 5th International Conference on Chinese Language Pedagogy were told more than 3 million people around the world are studying Chinese as a second language, Xinhua, China's official news agency, reported.
Speakers at the conference said more than 2,500 universities outside of China offer classes on the language, and around 1 million people in 120 countries have registered for the Han Yu Shui Ping Kao Shi test of Chinese language proficiency.
The Chinese government has said it is designing programs to support the study of the language for non-native speakers, with their number expected to grow to 100 million by 2010.
