New Zealand Chinese Language Week 2025 Goes Live

A bumper range of events and activities are planned for New Zealand Chinese Language Week 2025.

The week runs from August 31 to September 6 and is a celebration of Chinese language learning and culture.

This will be the 11th year that New Zealand Chinese Language Week has been held.

The New Zealand Chinese Language Week Trust was formed in 2014 by a group of academics, politicians, and business people who wanted to encourage the learning of Chinese language.

NZCLW2025 kicks off with an opening ceremony at Parliament in Wellington, where language superstars, youth ambassadors, and teachers will be honoured for their commitment to language learning.

Wētā Workshop’s Sir Richard Taylor will unveil the company’s massive development in Guangdong – the TCM Cultural Experience Centre. The TCM Cultural Experience Centre is a real-world example of how building close relationships in China can result in incredible opportunities for creative New Zealand companies like Wētā Workshop.

The NZCLW Trust hosted a forum in Auckland last month, in partnership with the New Zealand Association of Language Teachers and University of Auckland, on the state of foreign language learning in New Zealand. The report with recommendations from that forum is to be published tomorrow during the NZCLW opening ceremony .

Trust chair Jo Coughlan says NZCLW is a fantastic event for the country. People wanting to give Chinese language a go can find useful help on the NZCLW website – www.nzclw.com – where there are phrases to use with friends and family, and some videos to help with pronunciation and tones.

People can also register through the website and vote for their favourite dumpling restaurant as part of the celebration of New Zealand Dumpling Day on September 26.

“NZCLW is many things to many people. It’s about having fun trying out Chinese language and culture, but it’s also got a very serious purpose – benefiting the people of New Zealand through building their skills, opening up opportunities, and helping build connections and community diversity and vibrancy.

“As the national language forum report says, learning another language boosts brain activity, helping with numeracy and literacy as well. Language learning should be as much a part of the school curriculum as learning to read and write in English or to do mathematics or science is.”

Language learning is also important for businesses and exporters, Jo Coughlan says.

“If New Zealand is to do well on the global stage, we need to have language skills. NZCLW is part of that, encouraging New Zealanders to give Chinese language learning a go, and to learn something of Chinese culture at the same time.”

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