ZHC is a test held by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of China

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of China

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of China is a ministry under the State Council which is responsible for national labor polices, standards, regulations and managing the national social security. This includes labor force management, labor relationship...

 to test the Mandarin Chinese ability of Chinese

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 citizens.

ZHC is a kind of entrance test for people who aspire to be teachers, journalists, editors, lawyers, translators, or civil servants. Organized by Occupational Skill Training Authority (OSTA), Ministry of Labor and Social Security, it is developed by renowned experts on linguistics

Linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....

, language teaching, psychology and education measurement. It tests the candidates’ ability to use Chinese in their professional activities. Those who pass the test will be issued the certificate of occupational Chinese testing: elementary level, intermediate level or advanced level.

ZHC was formally launched in 2004. It is held on the second Sunday in March, June, September and December annually.