Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China (Taiwan), and is one of the four official languages of Singapore.
Standard Chinese is officially known,
- in the People's Republic of China (including the SARs of Hong Kong andMacau) as Putonghua (simplified Chinese: 普通话; traditional Chinese: 普通話; pinyin: Pǔtōnghuà; literally "common speech").
- in Taiwan as Guoyu, and unofficially in Hong Kong as Gwok Yu (simplified Chinese: 国语; traditional Chinese: 國語; Mandarin Pinyin: Guóyǔ; Jyutping: gwok jyu; literally "national language").
- in Malaysia, Phillippines and Singapore as Huayu [simplified Chinese: 华语; traditional Chinese: 華語; pinyin: Huáyǔ; literally "Chinese (in a cultural sense) language"]. In other parts of the world, the three names are used interchangeably to varying degrees, Putonghua being the most common. Chinese - de facto, Standard Mandarin - is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.