China is expected to launch its first examination to test proficiency in a language spoken by the Zhuang, the country's largest ethnic minority.

The State Ethnic Affairs Commission said the policy is a bid to promote the use of the tongue, which, unlike many languages belonging to ethnic groups, is still widely used.

The new test is to be held this May in Beijing and south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, home to the country's largest population of the Zhuang ethnic group, the commission said on February 11.

China has some 17 million Zhuang people, who mostly live in south China.

The Zhuang language has many dialects and another 12 linguistic subdivisions. Aiming to encourage the use of the language, officials said the test would push for the standardization of the many different dialects.