China launches campaign to promote Putonghua

China on Monday launched a nationwide campaign to promote Putonghua or Mandarin Chinese.

   The weeklong campaign will focus on popularizing the use of Putonghua in the country's impoverished areas to lift the language barriers impeding poverty eradication, according to a circular issued by the Ministry of Education.

   At present, about 80.72 percent of the country's population speak Putonghua, while only a 61.56 percentage of people in some severely impoverished areas speak Putonghua, according to the campaign.

   It aims to use various fun-oriented activities to promote Putonghua. Quizzes, short videos, emojis, among others, will be put on social media as part of the campaign.

   This year's campaign is the 23rd since its launch in 1998. The annual event, which is held in the third week of September, has emerged as an important platform for promoting Putonghua and the essence of Chinese traditional culture.