Mandarin first: China’s new push for ethnic unity

China has passed the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, providing a legal basis for the widespread adoption of Mandarin (Putonghua). Effective from 1 July this year, the law requires that in public places where minority languages are also used, the national language must be prominently featured.

The closing meeting of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) was held on 12 March at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, during which 11 drafts were passed. Among them, the widely watched Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law received 2,756 votes in favour, three against, and three abstentions.

China officially launched the legislative work for the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law in November 2023. According to the draft reviewed at this NPC session, the law explicitly stipulates the comprehensive promotion and popularisation of the national language, namely Mandarin and standardised Chinese characters.

The law requires that preschool children be encouraged to learn Mandarin, and young people completing compulsory education should have a basic command of the common national language and script. It also stipulates that government bodies, social organisations, enterprises and other institutions where the national common language and minority languages are used together in public settings, the national language and script must be given prominence in placement, order and similar respects.

The new law also states that the learning and use of minority languages and scripts shall be respected and protected, promoting their standardisation, regulation and digital development, while supporting the preservation, compilation, study, and utilisation of minority classical texts.

China officially recognises 56 ethnic groups, with the Han making up over 90% of the country’s 1.4 billion population. Other minority groups include the Uighurs, Hui, Tibetans, Mongols and others.

In regions with large minority populations, such as Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, authorities have in the past intensified assimilation efforts, including providing children with education primarily in Mandarin and gradually phasing out minority-language textbooks in favour of unified state-compiled ones.

Quoting Allen Carlson, an associate professor of government at Cornell University, Reuters reported that the law underlined a move towards assimilation and that “non-Han peoples must do more to integrate themselves with the Han majority, and above all else be loyal to Beijing”.

However, Bamo Qubumo, an ethnic Yi NPC deputy from Yunnan, stressed to Lianhe Zaobao that the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law is not only about promoting Mandarin, but also about encouraging “all ethnic groups to learn from one another, including us learning the national common language and script and other ethnic groups learning minority languages and scripts”.

The law also contains specific provisions on rallying the strength of people in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and overseas Chinese communities. It stresses support for Hong Kong and Macau in carrying out education on the history of the Chinese nation, Chinese culture and the national situation, and in guiding local residents to be self aware in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests.

With regard to Taiwan, the new law called for enhancing Taiwan compatriots’ sense of belonging to, identification with, and pride in the Chinese nation, and for deepening the awareness of a sense of belonging to the Chinese nation and to being Chinese.

The new law also stated that overseas organisations and individuals who undermine ethnic unity and progress or foment ethnic separatism will be held legally responsible. On 12 March, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen Yu‑chung told the media that such wording could “spill over into becoming a legal basis for handling cross-Strait issues”.

At the closing session of the NPC on 12 March, 2,762 of the 2,878 deputies were present and 116 were absent. During the session, the Ecological and Environmental Code was passed with 2,752 votes in favour, seven against and three abstentions, while the National Development Planning Law received 2,753 votes in favour, three against and six abstentions.

The congress also voted to approve Premier Li Qiang’s government work report delivered on 5 March, the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), the reports of the “Two Highs” (the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate) and others.

The government work report received 2,759 votes in favour, one against and two abstentions. The 15th Five-Year Plan outline was passed with 2,758 votes in favour, one against and two abstentions, while one deputy did not cast a vote. The Supreme People’s Court report garnered 2,703 votes in favour, 44 against and 15 abstentions; the Supreme People’s Procuratorate report received 2,726 votes in favour, 23 against and 13 abstentions.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “中国通过民族团结进步促进法 优先突出国家通用语言文字”.

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