China's television and broadcasting watchdog has asked the country's hosts and broadcasters to take the lead in promoting Mandarin.

Television hosts and broadcasters should speak Mandarin when hosting programs, except in special cases, and slang that violates language specifications should be prohibited, according to the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

They are asked to abide by Chinese syntax rules and not to coin new words or non-standard expressions, the administration said, adding that imitating pronunciation of some dialects and local expressions is also prohibited.

The administration asked TV and radio stations at different levels to integrate Mandarin level into their evaluation criteria for staff.

Broadcasting in standard Mandarin is a basic requirement of China's laws and regulations, said Fang Ming, a host with China Central Television, adding that it also meets the needs of the public.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education last September showed that about 30 percent of the Chinese population, or 400 million people, cannot speak Mandarin.

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