The Beijing Foreign Affairs Office plans to persuade more citizens to learn English in order to enhance the city's soft power, the Beijing Youth Daily reported recently.

According to Director of the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office Zhao Huimin, the gap of the international environment between Beijing and other big cities in the world is still wide. Beijing needs to be more active in having more people speak foreign languages fluently. In addition, the capital also needs to improve its foreign language services. "Although the Olympic Games are now over, Beijing's modernizing and internationalizing process is in no way ending," Zhao said.

According to Zhao, there are two tasks that the office is dealing with. One is to encourage more people to learn foreign languages. The other is to correct bizarre English signs in public.

Zhao said the office will build up more platforms to enhance communication between local residents and foreigners. It will provide opportunities for citizens to know more foreign customs and cultures during their language learning processes and offer more public services, including emergency and consultative services, for foreigners. Additionally, the office will publish a guide book on how to use English signs properly. Apart from the book, netizens are also encouraged to report any errors on the city's English signs online.

Beijing had 5.5 million people speaking foreign languages in 2008, a figure that accounts for 35 percent of the city's total population.