| Ethnic people in China enjoy the freedom to use and develop their own languages. Chinese is the universal language in this country; it is also one of the five working languages of the United Nations. Due to historical and geographical reasons, the Chinese language consists of quite a few local dialects, such as Suzhou, Cantonese, and Fukienese dialects. Putonghua is the standard spoken language for the Han people. The Chinese characters, which are the written form of the Chinese language, had their origin in oracle inscriptions more than 6,000 years ago. Most of the 55 ethnic minorities, however, speak their own languages, and some 30 of them have their own written languages. |
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