The HSK (Level II) assesses test takers’ abilities in the application of everyday Chinese. It is the counterpart of the Level II of the Chinese Language Proficiency Scales for Speakers of Other Languages and the A2 Level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEF). Test takers who are able to pass the HSK (Level II) have an excellent grasp of basic Chinese and can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.

Test Target

The HSK (Level II) is intended for students who have studied Chinese for two semesters (an academic year), with 2-3 class hours in each week. These students have mastered 300 commonly used words and related grammar patterns.

Test Content

The HSK (Level II) test is made up of listening comprehension and reading comprehension sections and contains a total of 60 items.

The test will last for a total of 55 minutes (including 5 minutes in which the test takers fill in personal information).

1. Listening Comprehension

There are 10 items in Part I. The recording of each item will be played twice. A sentence and a picture will be provided with each item. The test takers should make a true-or-false judgment based on what they hear.

There are 10 items in Part II. The recording of each item will be played twice. For each item, a dialogue and several pictures will be provided. The test takers should select the appropriate answer based on what they hear.

There are 10 items in Part III. The recording of each item will be played twice. Each item consists of a dialogue between two persons with a third person asking a question related to the content. There will be three possible answers on the test paper from which the test takers can select the correct one based on the passage.

There are 5 items in Part IV. The recording of each item will be played twice. Each item consists of a 4-5 sentence dialogue between two persons with a third person will asking a question at the end of the passage. There will be three possible answers on the test paper from which the test takers can select the correct one based on what they hear in the passage.

2. Reading Comprehension

There are 5 items in Part I. Several pictures will be shown on the test paper. For each item, a sentence will be provided. The test taker should choose corresponding pictures based on the sentence.

There are 5 items in Part II. For each item, one or two sentences will be provided in which one word is missing. The test taker should select one of the words in the answer section to fill in the blank.

There are 5 items in Part III. For each item, two sentences will be provided. The test taker should judge whether or not the second sentence is consistent with the first one.

There are 10 items in Part IV. In this section, 20 sentences will be provided. The test taker will be asked to find the correlations between the sentences.

All the items on the test paper are shown in pinyin.

Results Certificate

For the HSK (Level II), three results will be provided including listening, reading and total. The test taker must score at least 120 points total to be considered passing.

As a Chinese language certificate for foreign students’ entry into Chinese colleges, the results of the HSK are valid for two years (beginning from the test date).