Promotion of Standard Chinese

The promotion of Standard Chinese, abbreviated as Tuipu (推普), is a campaign by the government of the People's Republic of China, with the stated goal being to facilitate easier communication throughout the country, which has historically spoken many mutually unintelligible varieties of Chinese, as well as non-Sinitic languages. Currently, the promotion of Standard Chinese is organized by the State Language Work Committee, a regulatory agency within the Chinese government.

These efforts aim to promote the social application of Putonghua, defined as the language with "Beijing pronunciation as the standard pronunciation, Northern dialects as the foundational dialect, and exemplary modern vernacular Chinese writings as the grammatical norm."

Initially, the campaign intended to prepare for the complete abolition of Chinese characters in favor of implementing a romanization of Chinese writing system (Pinyin) as part of a broader "script reform." However, the focus shifted to the promotion of simplified Chinese characters and Pinyin instead. Currently, the promotion of Putonghua is overseen by the State Language Commission (SLC).

At present, broadcast and television media on the mainland generally use Putonghua as the standard reporting language. While Putonghua has become mainstream, there have been calls for the preservation of regional dialects. The government acknowledges that dialects are valuable cultural assets but maintains that this recognition does not conflict with the implementation of policies and measures related to Standard Chinese promotion.