Locale Zh Cn

Reference data for the Chinese (Simplified, China) locale — endonym 简体中文 (中国), written in the Han (Simplified) script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

• BCP 47 tag: zh-CN
• ISO 639-1: zh
• ISO 639-3: cmn
• Script: Hans (Han (Simplified))
• Region: CN (China)
• Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

• L1 (native): 900,000,000
• L2 (additional): 238,000,000
• L1+L2 (total): 1,138,000,000

Base locale

This is a regional variant of Locale Zh 001 (Chinese), the base/macro locale for this language.

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: other (1 form).

• other — everything else (e.g. 0~15, 100, 1000, 10000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Apply Locale Zh 001 with Mainland China conventions (Simplified Chinese).

• Script and standard: Simplified characters per the national standard (通用规范汉字表); Putonghua is the spoken base. Use zh-Hans-CN.
• Punctuation: national standard GB/T 15834 defines Chinese punctuation; quotation marks “ ” and ‘ ’; the book-title marks are 《 》 and 〈 〉.
• Vocabulary: 软件 (software), 网络 (network), 默认 (default), 文件 (file), 信息 (information), 程序 (program), 服务器 (server), 用户 (user), 视频 (video), 鼠标 (mouse), 打印 (print), 菜单 (menu), 支持 (support), 数据 (data), 硬盘 (hard drive).
• Numbers: the national standard for numerals in publications is GB/T 15835; currency 人民币 (¥ or RMB), formatted ¥12.50 or 12.50元; day/month/year is not used, use 2026年10月17日.
• Tone: direct, concise, and polite; 您 is used for official and service text; celebratory marketing language is common, but should be factual in regulated areas.
• Regulatory context: content published in Mainland China is subject to local legal and content rules; check them before localizing sensitive text, maps, and terms about regions.

Common pitfalls

• Using Taiwan or Hong Kong vocabulary (軟體, 預設, 資料).
• Using Traditional characters or 「」 quotation marks.
• The general pitfalls in Locale Zh 001 also apply.

Learn more

• Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
• Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
• Microsoft Localization Style Guide, Chinese (Simplified) (https://aka.ms/chinese-simplified-styleguide)
• GB/T 15834-2011 Punctuation and GB/T 15835-2011 Numbers in publications