Abstract：Over the past seven decades, the Chinese language has seen continuous changes that emerged as the result of radical changes that occurred in the socio-political-cultural context of China. Based on an extensive literature review of previous studies on the Chinese language development trajectory, this paper revisits and reflects on language practice in China and the respective features of language use in several key milestone periods since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The findings show that in general, China’s language planning and policy implementation have succeeded in managing language use for both the public and institutions. The success is demonstrated in the following aspects: nation-wide popularization of the national common language (Guojia Tongyongyu); realization of the linguistic goal of the unification of speech and writing for the first time in the Chinese history; continuous improvement of overall language use across the whole society; and healthy development of language use towards pluralism and harmony. This paper concludes that the use and development of Chinese over the past seven decades deserve further studies.
