A total of 5,000 foreigners took part in the HSK -- Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (Chinese ProficiencyTest), a state-level examination to test knowledge of the Chinese language, in Beijing Sunday.

Sources said that the above figure is 50 percent of the total number who sat at the examination in 16 Chinese cities throughout China on the same day.

Sources said that the number of foreigners who come to China to learn Chinese has risen by 35 percent each year since 1997, and most come from Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and southeast Asian countries.

Spurred on by China's accession to the World Trade Organization and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the number of people coming from Europe and north America to learn Chinese has increased dramatically this year.

More than 50 percent of those from Japan and ROK said that they are learning Chinese so that they can find jobs more easily.

Statistics show that 400,000 people from more than 100 countries have taken part in HSK in China since it was launched in1990. Such examination centers have been set up in 24 countries worldwide, including Japan, ROK, Canada, the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

(People?s Daily December 16, 2001)