The new version of Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK), the International Chinese Language Proficiency Test, will be inaugurated next April with the contents and levels of the exam to be adjusted.

 

Oral and writing tests will be included in all levels of the new HSK and this is the most significant difference, according to Sun Dejin, director of the HSK Center of Beijing Language and Culture University. Currently only the examinees registered for the highest level of HSK sit oral and writing tests.

 

In the written sections of the exam new parts will be included covering reading and listening with the aim of checking examinees' Chinese comprehension and communication abilities.

 

And the former 11 levels of the HSK will merge into just three--namely elementary, middle, and high levels. Every level will involve two grades: qualified and excellent.

 

(Chinanews.cn December 29, 2006)