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This series brings together original studies and translated work on language, culture, and society in China and across the Chinese diasporas worldwide. Topics include language policy and planning, language standardization and language engineering, language contact and multilingualism, language in education, language and the media, language and the law, language and economy, language and history, and Chinese as a global language.

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China, with the world´s largest population, numerous ethnic groups and vast geographical space, is also rich in languages. Since 2006, China´s State Language Commission has been publishing annual reports on what is called "language life" in China. These reports cover language policy and planning invitatives at the national, provincial and local levels, new trends in language use in a variety of social domains, and major events concerning languages in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Now for the first time, these reports are available in English for anyone interested in Chinese language and linguistics, China´s language, education and social policies, as well as everyday language use among the ordinary people in China. The invaluable data contained in these reports provide an essential reference to researchers, professionals, policy makers, and China watchers.

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Li Wei, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK.

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