Mainland China plummets in English skills rank, but foreign commerce unlikely to be tongue-tied

Though it fell 20 places in an international ranking of English skills, mainland China still has enough fluent speakers to keep foreign trade active
Education reforms, frostier relations with West, fewer academic exchanges pointed to as likely cause

China economy

Ralph Jennings

Published: 8:30pm, 24 Nov 2023

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Mainland China fell 20 places in an international ranking of English skills this year – losing ground to economic competitors and tracking a wider slump throughout Asia – but analysts said the language is still being spoken at a volume and level high enough to sustain foreign trade and investment.

The international language training firm EF Education First’s 2023 English Proficiency Index placed the mainland in the 82nd spot among 113 countries and regions – and 14th among 23 Asian economies – according to its Standard English Test results.

It ranked 62nd last year, 49th in 2021 and 38th in 2020.

The mainland’s plummet was in sharp contrast with Hong Kong, which moved up two notches this year to 29th and became the “top region” for English in China, according to the Swiss company’s report on Tuesday.

It’s symptomatic of a larger problem, which is less amiable relations with the West

Dexter Roberts, University of Montana

The mainland’s slide may mean that fewer citizens in the world’s second-largest economy care about the language, said Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform.

But he added the trend does not mean English will be out of circulation among people who need it for trade, investment, or travel.

“For actual work, it’s still very important,” said Peng, whose think tank is affiliated with the Guangdong provincial government.

“At foreign-invested enterprises, you still need it to discuss orders and contracts.”

Though English remains a subject in the compulsory education system, schools have cut the amount of time they spend teaching it.

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Sweeping reforms have been implemented by mainland authorities with the intent to lighten student workloads, a likely motive for the shift, along with heated public debate over whether so much curricular focus should be placed on a Western language.

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore held onto its No 2 ranking for a second year straight, 16 points behind top-ranked Netherlands. Japan came in at 87th and South Korea was 49th, both falling visibly from their 2022 ranks.

Emerging economic engine Indonesia moved up two spaces to 79th and manufacturing hub Vietnam edged up two places to 58th.

The Philippines, where English is a widely used second language, rose from world No 22 to 20. Thailand and Malaysia lost marginal ground, but Malaysia still placed 25th and Thailand came in 101st.

Views of English may reflect opinions about the United States at a time of strained relations, said Dexter Roberts, a former Beijing denizen and current director of China affairs with the University of Montana’s Mansfield Centre.

Beijing and Washington are struggling with trade and technology disputes, as well as differences over Taiwan and the South China Sea.

“It’s symptomatic of a larger problem, which is less amiable relations with the West,” Roberts said.

About 10 million people in the mainland speak “fluent” English today, according to Chinese internet firm Baidu. Children continue to learn the language in primary school, and adults study it voluntarily for education abroad or jobs in foreign firms.

Mainland Chinese students make greater gains than Hong Kong pupils in English test

In Indonesia, a growing young population is keen to study abroad on a wealth of available scholarships and work in foreign commerce, said Nukila Evanty, a Jakarta-based member of the Asia Centre research institute’s advisory board.

“In the World Trade Organization, you lobby for trade and that needs English skills, not only [language structure] but also content,” Evanty said, citing an example of the skill’s competitive advantage.

EF Education First attributes Asia’s “waning” proficiency over the past four years to a drop in the number of East Asian students enrolled in US universities from 2020 to 2023 as the pandemic restricted travel.

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“But declining English proficiency is likely symptomatic of broader political and demographic shifts. as well as growing confidence questioning Western cultural hegemony in education,” the report added.

Fluent English is still common in China’s bigger cities, said Ker Gibbs, a former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. To his recollection, chamber members never complained about English proficiency.

Mainland officials have tried to drum up trade and foreign investment this year on the way to a post-pandemic economic recovery, but foreign direct investment fell by 5.1 per cent in the first eight months, indicating there remains a long way to go.

“Of all the problems they have in China – skills, I wouldn’t rank it that high,” Gibbs said.