Modern Chinese language planning began with an array of language modernization movements in the early 1900s and developed toward a state-centric model since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 (Zhao Reference Zhao and Shang2016). Since the 1980s, along with the awakening awareness of language rights and language resources, there has been widespread attention to issues such as linguistic diversity, language revival, and language planning, which greatly contributed to the transformation of micro-sociolinguistics into macro-sociolinguistics (Crystal Reference Crystal2000; Ball Reference Ball2010). Against this background, ‘language life’ began to emerge in the Chinese academic literature around the end of the twentieth century. Language life refers to a variety of activities that involve the use, learning, and study of language, language knowledge, and language technology. Subsequently, the ‘School of Language Life’ came into being with an objective to conduct language and linguistic research on language life and for language life (Li Reference Li2016). Since 2005, the State Language Commission started to publish the China language life green paper (CLLGP), which is not only an important platform for presenting observations on Chinese language use but also the most representative annual integration of research on Chinese language life. Since 2013, the CLLGP series has been translated into English. The language situation in China: Volume 6, recently published as a translated version of the CLLGP of 2015, comprises an introduction, thirty-three articles in six thematic parts, and four appendices.

The volume begins with an introduction to the solid progress and steady development achieved in the cause of the spoken and written Chinese language, which also serves as an overview of the thirty-three articles to guide the reader. As this volume marks the ten-year anniversary of both of China's language monitoring project and the publication of the CLLGP, the first thematic part of the volume, ‘Special report’, presents two articles sketching the general picture of Chinese language life over the past decade. The first article offers a detailed summary of the CLLGP from 2005 to 2014 in four aspects, namely, evolution of the framework of the CLLGP, principal content, new concepts, and new ideas. The second article reviews the language monitoring project in China with regard to the organization, resources, practices, achievements, theories and technologies, and services. Over the past decade, social language awareness has continued to rise in China, and language standardization is no longer the only concern of language life studies. Language resources, language protection, language power, and language safety have all become new focal issues. This expansion of interests reflects a shift in the understanding of language planning from tool to resource, from structuralism to postmodernism, from univariate to multivariate, from linguistic to multidisciplinary, and from practical concerns to human rights (Liu Reference Liu and Zhangtai2006).

Part 2, ‘Special focuses’, is a collection of five conference addresses at the International Conference on Language organized by China's Ministry of Education in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Focusing on the theme of language competence for human civilization and social progress, about 400 delegates from more than 100 countries and regions deliberated and reached a consensus—known as the Suzhou Conclusion—on the role of language competence in such areas as sustainable social development, educational innovation, and international exchanges and cooperation.

While Part 1 and Part 2 are special sections marking the particular significance of the year 2015 in Chinese language life research, the remaining contents, starting with Part 3, are within the regular framework of the CLLGP. Part 3, ‘Special fields’, mainly consists of reports on language use in domestic China (e.g. language use in the settings of rural migrant workers and hearing-impaired individuals, banking services, official documents, and the internet) and on the international promotion of Chinese language (e.g. the status quo of Confucius Institutes and Chinese language education overseas). These articles represent the tradition in sociolinguistics of emphasizing language materials and language users in real-world settings. Over the past decade, the Chinese language life survey has made significant progress in both breadth and depth. The scope of the survey has expanded from central cities to border areas and even cross-border zones (Guo & Xiaohong Reference Guo and Xiaohong2016). The expanded coverage from a wide array of fieldwork investigations provides valuable first-hand information about Chinese language life and serves as an important reference for Chinese language planning.

Part 4, ‘Hot topics’, discusses hotly debated topics in 2014, such as reforms of foreign language tests in China's College Entrance Examination, internet language norms, and English slang terms with ‘Chinese intonation’. As Liu (Reference Liu and Zhangtai2006) puts it, language is not only a tool for communication, but also a carrier of culture and a symbol of identity. It is a great challenge for the government to maintain a balance between improving national language competence and ensuring national language security. High-stakes exams play an important role in addressing this challenge, and thus the issue of foreign language test reforms in the College Entrance Examination could become a galvanizing topic in 2014. In the earlier volumes of the CLLGP, hot topics were primarily focused on corpus planning, such as the debate over traditional characters versus simplified characters and the issue of lettered words, while the two more recent CLLGP volumes show a shift of focus toward language power, internet language, and language interaction.

Part 5,’Words and passages’, is probably the section in the CLLGP that attracts the most attention from the average reader. The section reports on the ‘Chinese language inventory’ and neologisms of 2014. These language monitoring results can effectively promote people's language awareness, help people keep abreast of the dynamics of social language life, and provide data support for government decision-making in language planning. In the past ten years, reports on annual buzzwords and neologisms have undergone impressive changes. Initially, it was a simple annual release of a word list. Then, there were articles discussing social factors underlying the phenomenal words. Today, annual buzzwords are explored in greater detail in the CLLGP, and there is a growing focus on English neologisms induced by the spread of Chinese.

Part 6 is a section focusing on language planning in ‘Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan’. The language situation in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan is rather complex due to the combined influence of colonial history, the presence of multiple official languages, and dialects with prestige. In a multilingual and multicultural society, the dual attributes of language as a problem and a resource are both highlighted. Balancing the relationships between national lingua franca, international lingua franca, official languages, and dialects is not only a concern to sociolinguists, but also a major challenge for the government. Over the past decade, research on language situations in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan has become increasingly fine-grained. This is especially true in Hong Kong, where the investigations are spanning language policy, Chinese Mandarin promotion, medium of instruction, and linguistic associations.

The four appendices at the end of the volume provide useful information and references, including language-related content in the official documents of other national ministries and commissions, recommended Chinese translations of foreign-language terms, the first batch of terms for the ‘Project for the Translation and Communication of Key Concepts in Chinese Culture and Thought’, and the chronology of major events in language life 2014.

The CLLGP is an authoritative report that comprehensively reflects the language situation of Chinese society. The publication of its English version makes a unique contribution to introducing the language situation in China to the world as well as China's efforts and innovations in language planning. This recommended volume, which marks the tenth anniversary of the CLLGP, is of special significance among the series published so far, as it not only offers an impressive summary of the research trends on language life in China over the past decade but also provides the latest portrayal of language situations in China from the perspective of the traditions of sociolinguistics. This volume is a valuable source both to researchers who are knowledgeable about the Chinese language situation and to readers who are simply interested in the related topics.