The Chinese Proficiency Test for Business (HSK for Business) is a national standardized test designed to test the Chinese-language proficiency of businesspeople who are non-native Chinese speakers. It is produced by Peking University with the entrustment of the State Committee for the Chinese Proficiency Test of the PRC.
HSK (Business) tests the examinees¡¯ competence of language application in carrying out business affairs as well as in daily and social life. HSK (Business) is a proficiency test of the Chinese language, rather than a professional test of business.
HSK (Business), HSK (Primary and intermediate) and HSK (Advanced) are all part of HSK series. HSK (Business) will be administered globally starting in 2005. To ensure the validity of the test, the HSK (Business) Research & Development Office plans to offer a pre-test (free of charge) at some American universities in early October 2004.
1. Targeted AudienceNon-native Chinese speakers.Those who have studied Chinese for two years or more, especially those who have followed a course of Business Chinese, or have experience using Chinese in business situations, will be best suited to this test.
2. Purpose of the Test (1) HSK (Business) is for institutions that need to appraise the language proficiency of their employees in terms of business Chinese. (2) HSK (Business) serves as a reference for learners of the Chinese language to know and/or to improve their level of proficiency in business Chinese.(3) HSK (Business) serves as a reference for assessing the teaching or training efficiency of relevant institutions.
3. Structure of the Test HSK (Business) is composed of four sections: listening comprehension, reading comprehension, speaking and writing. There are 105 questions in total, and the total testing time is 150 minutes.
The following table shows the structure of the test:
|
Sections |
Questions |
Time |
|
Objective |
Listening |
50 |
About 40 minutes |
|
Reading |
50 |
55 minutes |
|
Subjective |
Oral |
3 |
15minutes(5 minutes preparation, 10 minutes recording) |
|
Writing |
2 |
40 minutes |
|
Total |
105 |
150 minutes |
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There is a 10-minute break after the reading section.
4. Levels
Level 1: Unable to carry out business affairs with the Chinese language.
Level 2: Able to carry out limited communication with simple Chinese in business situations.
Level 3: Able to conduct business in Chinese quite effectively.
Level 4: Able to conduct business in Chinese nearly fluently.
Level 5: Able to conduct business in Chinese with considerable fluency and appropriate register.
5. Score Reporting
Each examinee will receive an HSK (Business) test report, which will indicate their level achieved in each section, their comprehensive score, and descriptions of their corresponding levels.
Those with qualifying scores will be awarded an HSK (Business) Certificate for levels 5, 4, 3, and 2. No certificate is given for a score of 1. |
