BCT exam guide: the Business Chinese Test for working adults

The BCT is China's test of Chinese for work

The BCT comes from Chinese Testing International, CTI, the same body that runs the HSK. Its sample papers are compiled by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, under China's Ministry of Education.

CTI now calls it the Chinese Proficiency Test (Business). The papers still say Business Chinese Test, 商务中文考试(Shāngwù Zhōngwén Kǎoshì).

CTI's BCT page says the test checks your Chinese "in general work environments, business activities, and other professional settings". In practice, that means workplace Chinese. The BCT's Korea office says it's closer to a test of using Chinese than a test of business knowledge.

The Korea office says the written test comes in a beginner level and an intermediate-to-advanced level, so that beginners can try business Chinese and check their progress. Speaking is a third, separate test.

So you don't need to know accounting. You need to read a price list, follow a meeting that moved and write a polite email.

Three tests: BCT A, BCT B and BCT Speaking

CTI writes the two written levels as BCT (A) and BCT (B). We write BCT A and BCT B, as Leeds's centre does. Both start at 9:00 local time, so you sit one written level per date.

Here's what each test asks of you, from CTI's three test pages:

Sources: CTI's BCT A, BCT B and BCT Speaking pages and their Vocabulary tabs, read 5 November 2026. Times include about five minutes of setup.

Speaking is a separate test with its own dates. CTI's subject list also has listening-and-reading versions of both written levels, but the only one we found on a centre calendar was in Korea.

If you're new to Chinese, we suggest BCT A. If you're at about HSK 3 or above, BCT B gives you a score anywhere from intermediate to advanced in one sitting.

BCT vs HSK: which should you take?

Our short answer: take the HSK if your plans run through Chinese universities or China's work-permit system. Take the BCT if an employer asks for it, or if you want a work-themed test that measures a wide range in one morning.

The visa side is clear-cut. China's points system for work permits gives up to five points for Chinese. Shanghai's official guide lists three ways to earn them: an HSK level, a degree taught in Chinese, or former Chinese nationality. The BCT isn't there.

Chinese universities and scholarships ask for HSK levels too, as our HSK 4 guide shows.

Here's when each test makes sense:

• Pick the BCT when your employer or a client names it, when you work in Korea, or when you want a score built on emails, meetings and price lists.
• Pick the HSK for a work permit, a Chinese university, a scholarship, or a job ad that names it.
• Pick both only if you need both. One study plan serves both, because most BCT words are on the HSK lists.

The BCT's real edge is its shape. BCT B places a wide range of learners, from about HSK 3 up, on one 300-point scale.

Outside Korea, few employers ask for the BCT by name

The strongest employer evidence comes from South Korea. The BCT's Korea office says its BCT B is used for staff assessment by Samsung Group, Incheon International Airport Corporation and the national power company, KEPCO.

Its list of users names 94 companies and 21 other organisations, mostly for hiring. One caveat: the list is undated, and some names on it, such as Hynix, changed more than ten years ago.

Even there, the HSK dominates. On the job board that Korea's HSK and BCT office share, we read the 11 ads on show on 5 November. Ten asked for the HSK, and none named the BCT.

Outside Korea, we found centres rather than employers. Leeds University's Business Confucius Institute runs the BCT in the UK, and Nanyang Technological University's Confucius Institute runs BCT Speaking in Singapore.

So treat the BCT as a benchmark or a box your employer ticks. It won't open doors on its own the way the HSK can.

BCT A sits around HSK 3 to 4; BCT B runs past HSK 6

CTI doesn't link BCT scores to HSK levels. So we matched CTI's two BCT word lists against the new HSK syllabus from November 2025, word by word.

Here's how much of each BCT list you'd already know at each new HSK level:

Source: our match of CTI's BCT A and BCT B word lists, files dated November 2023, against CLEC's 2025 HSK syllabus; method below.

BCT A is a beginner test with a business accent. Most of its words are HSK 1 to 3 words, but it pulls work words forward. It asks for contract, 合同(hétóng), and client, 客户(kèhù), which the new HSK holds back to HSK 5.

BCT B is a different animal. Its 4,000 words run across every HSK level, and one in nine is on no HSK list at all. Nearly all of BCT A's words are on it too.

The Korea office publishes a rough score link, based on its own statistics. It was built on the old HSK, and the office warns it isn't an absolute standard:

Source: the BCT's Korea office, read 5 November 2026. CTI publishes no equivalence.

So if you've passed HSK 3 or 4, BCT B is your test, and the score tells you how far up the range you are. If you're below HSK 3, take BCT A first.

There's no pass mark, only a score out of 300

Both written tests are scored out of 300, and neither has a pass mark. CTI's Chinese BCT A page says so in one line, 不设合格分数(bú shè hégé fēnshù), "no pass mark is set". The English page leaves the line out.

The Korea office adds the detail. Listening, reading and writing are worth 100 points each, and the report shows each section as well as the total.

BCT Speaking is scored out of 500 across its five parts, the Korea office says. It has no pass mark either, and the report describes what you can do at your score.

Korea also runs a shorter BCT B, listening and reading only, scored out of 1,000. If you see a written BCT score above 300, that's what it is.

That makes your target a number, not a level. Ask whoever wants the result which score they need, then use practice papers to see how far you are from it.

BCT A: pictures, signs and characters from pinyin

BCT A has 70 questions in three sections. Here's each part as CTI's BCT A sample paper sets it out:

• Listening, part 1. You hear a short line and mark whether it matches a photo.
• Listening, part 2. You hear a line and pick one of three photos.
• Listening, part 3. You hear a two-line dialogue and a question, then pick one of three printed answers.
• Reading, part 1. You fill gaps in mini-dialogues and a product form from two word banks.
• Reading, part 2. You read signs, app icons, a bank transfer screen, a staff travel schedule, emails, a notice, a short article and a contract to sell a shop.
• Writing. Ten sentences each have a gap with pinyin above it. You write the character or word.

The writing part asks more than it looks. On the paper test, you write the characters by hand, so you need to produce them from memory. CTI doesn't say how the computer version takes characters, so ask your centre.

Here's an item in that style, written by us: 请您在这儿签字。Qǐng nín zài zhèr qiānzì. "Please sign here." The gap would show qiānzì, and you'd write 签字.

The rest of BCT A rewards fast recognition of everyday work facts. Workplace Chinese is full of times, prices, floors and dates, so we suggest drilling numbers until you hear them without translating.

BCT B: emails, charts and two pieces of writing

BCT B has 92 questions and runs for 145 minutes. CTI's BCT B sample paper shows a big step up from BCT A:

• Listening, part 1. Short two-line dialogues, each with a question and four printed answers.
• Listening, part 2. Longer dialogues of about four turns.
• Listening, part 3. Short talks and reports, each followed by several questions.
• Reading, part 1. A flowchart, a meeting agenda, a building notice and several articles, with four-option questions.
• Reading, part 2. Two articles with five sentences missing from each. You put them back from seven options.
• Reading, part 3. You match statements to four short texts, such as four ways to invest.
• Writing. Describe and analyse a chart in at least 80 characters, then write a work letter of at least 150 characters.

The letter has a checklist. In the sample, you reply to an employee's resignation and must cover three set points. Miss one, and you've answered a different question.

Here are two openings of our own. For the chart: 从图中可以看出，今年的销售额比去年增长了百分之十五。Cóng tú zhōng kěyǐ kànchū, jīnnián de xiāoshòu'é bǐ qùnián zēngzhǎng le bǎi fēn zhī shíwǔ. "The chart shows that this year's sales are up 15 percent on last year."

For a letter to an unhappy client: 王经理：您好！谢谢您的来信。对于给您带来的不便，我们深表歉意。Wáng jīnglǐ: nín hǎo! Xièxie nín de láixìn. Duìyú gěi nín dàilái de búbiàn, wǒmen shēn biǎo qiànyì. "Dear Mr Wang, thank you for your letter. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience."

We suggest writing the letter as greeting, purpose, one paragraph per set point, and a polite close. Then count your characters before time runs out.

BCT B reading runs a little faster than HSK 4

The BCT B reading section gives you 90 seconds per question. BCT A gives you a minute.

We counted every Chinese character a candidate reads in each sample paper's reading section. That includes the texts, questions and answer choices, but not instructions or worked examples. Here's the pace each one asks for, against the new HSK 4:

Source: our count of CTI's BCT A and BCT B sample papers; the HSK 4 figure is from our HSK 4 study guide, counted the same way.

So BCT B reading tests your pace as well as your words. Its longest articles run to about 350 characters, and you need to read them at a steady clip while you choose answers.

We suggest a stopwatch habit. Read one work email or news story a day against the clock, and aim to finish a 300-character text and its questions in under five minutes.

The listening plays twice in BCT A, once in BCT B

We measured CTI's two sample recordings, item by item. In the BCT A recording, every item is played twice. In BCT B, each is played once. The Korea office's BCT A table also marks its listening as played twice.

The pauses are short. After each item you get about 10 seconds in BCT A's first part and about 15 seconds elsewhere, by our measurement.

That changes how you listen:

• In BCT A, use the first play for the gist and the second to check the detail the question wants, usually a time, a place or a price.
• In BCT B, read the four options before the audio starts. You won't hear it again, so the options tell you what to listen for.
• In both, listen hardest after 不过(búguò), "but". Plans change in work Chinese, and a question about a plan wants the final version.

Here's that trap in a line, written by us: 会议原来在周三，不过改到周四了。Huìyì yuánlái zài zhōusān, búguò gǎidào zhōusì le. "The meeting was on Wednesday, but it's moved to Thursday."

If your listening is weaker than your reading, start BCT practice with BCT A's twice-played format, even if you're aiming for B.

BCT Speaking: 15 answers, and the middle parts carry the points

BCT Speaking is a computer test at a centre. You hear or read each question and record your answer through a headset. CTI's sample paper names its five parts:

• Quick answers, 快速作答(kuàisù zuòdá). Four questions, each with a photo, such as how a project is going.
• Short answers, 简短作答(jiǎnduǎn zuòdá). Four questions about you, your company and business customs.
• Role plays, 情景模拟(qíngjǐng mónǐ). Three work situations, such as introducing yourself at a meeting.
• Opinions, 意见表述(yìjiàn biǎoshù). Three workplace dilemmas, each asking for your view or what you'd do, and why.
• Picture talk, 看图描述(kàn tú miáoshù). Advice to a new colleague, based on a set of photos.

Before the test, you log in, check your headset and fill in a short questionnaire. The Korea office says the questions are then fitted to your background and start easy.

Here's where the 500 points sit, by the Korea office's count:

Sources: parts and minutes from CTI's BCT Speaking page and sample paper; points from the BCT's Korea office. CTI doesn't publish per-part points.

So we suggest putting most of your practice into the role plays and opinions. A role play needs a polite opening, a fix and a next step. An opinion needs a view, two reasons and a closing line.

Here's a role-play answer in that shape, to a prompt we wrote: a client calls to move tomorrow's meeting. 没问题。明天下午我也有空，三点可以吗？我马上重新订会议室，再发邮件确认。Méi wèntí. Míngtiān xiàwǔ wǒ yě yǒu kòng, sān diǎn kěyǐ ma? Wǒ mǎshàng chóngxīn dìng huìyìshì, zài fā yóujiàn quèrèn. "No problem. I'm free tomorrow afternoon too. Would three work? I'll rebook the meeting room now and email to confirm."

For opinions, one frame carries you a long way: 我觉得……，原因有两个。Wǒ juéde…, yuányīn yǒu liǎng ge. "I think…, for two reasons." Then give the reasons with 第一(dì yī), "first", and 第二(dì èr), "second", and close with 所以(suǒyǐ), "so".

The Korea office's descriptions show what the top of the scale sounds like. The highest band can debate general topics and discuss work topics in depth, in an organised way. The lowest band can give basic facts about themselves and their company.

The business words no HSK list teaches

Of the 4,000 BCT B words, 449 are on no list of the new HSK. We sorted every one by theme.

About a quarter are everyday words and place names that the HSK doesn't list as words, such as to eat, 吃饭(chīfàn), or Shanghai, 上海(Shànghǎi). The rest is the vocabulary of offices, shops and deals.

Here's what those words are about:

Source: our match of CTI's BCT B list to CLEC's 2025 HSK syllabus; the themes are our own sorting, word by word.

HSK courses follow the HSK lists, so learn these words on purpose. A few from each business theme:

• quote a price, 报价(bàojià)
• commission, 佣金(yòngjīn)
• declare at customs, 报关(bàoguān)
• after-sales service, 售后服务(shòuhòu fúwù)
• base salary, 底薪(dǐxīn)
• copy someone in on an email, 抄送(chāosòng)
• renew a contract, 续约(xùyuē)
• propose a toast, 敬酒(jìngjiǔ)
• get over jet lag, 倒时差(dǎo shíchā)

Some are vivid once you know them. To fire someone is 炒鱿鱼(chǎo yóuyú), literally to stir-fry squid. Small profits and fast sales is a four-character saying, 薄利多销(bólì duōxiāo).

One snag: CTI's files, dated 2023, list words only, with no pinyin or English, so check each new word in a dictionary.

A study plan that fits around a full-time job

CTI doesn't publish study hours for the BCT. So we built two plans around a working week: about 40 minutes on weekdays and a longer session at the weekend.

For BCT A, start from about HSK 2. If you know the new HSK 1 and 2 words, our match leaves about 370 BCT A words to learn. Here's a 12-week plan:

• First month. Learn about 35 list words a week. Drill numbers, prices, times and floors, and do the photo true-or-false listening.
• Second month. Another 35 words a week. Read signs, forms and timetables, and write ten list characters by hand every day.
• Third month. The last words. Work on short dialogues, and sit CTI's sample paper timed two weeks before the test.
• The last week. Review only. Take our practice book's mini test, then rest before the date.

For BCT B, start from about HSK 4. You don't need the whole list to score well, because BCT B measures a range. Learn the list's HSK 5 words and the words on no HSK list first, about 1,400 in all.

Here's that plan over six months:

This is our plan, built from our word-list match; CTI publishes no study times.

That's about nine new words a day for five months. It's a steady load for a working adult, and it leaves time for listening.

Five habits make the weekday sessions count:

• Use your commute for words. Fifteen minutes of flashcards on the train covers most of the daily load.
• Listen to one work clip a day. A phone call, a meeting or a news story, at normal speed.
• Write one email a week. Turn a real work message into Chinese and count the characters.
• Read against a stopwatch. One article a day, timed, with the questions first.
• Speak out loud every day. Answer one question for a minute, even if nobody's listening.

Free practice: our workbooks and CTI's own files

The best practice material is free. CTI's BCT pages have a Resources tab with its free files, and SayMei has a free practice book for each test.

Here's what we suggest, in this order:

• CTI's BCT A sample paper, with answers and its 20-minute recording, from the BCT A page.
• CTI's BCT B sample paper, with answers and its 35-minute recording, from the BCT B page.
• CTI's BCT Speaking sample, with its audio files, from the BCT Speaking page.
• CTI's word lists, 600 words for BCT A and 4,000 for BCT B, as spreadsheets.
• Our three BCT practice books, for BCT A, BCT B and Speaking, free with a SayMei account.
• Our workplace books, on business phrases, work emails and phone calls.
• HSK material at your level. Our HSK 4 word list and HSK 5 study guide cover most of BCT B's core.

Our books are practice in the BCT task types. SayMei wrote every question, so they aren't official papers, and their scores don't convert to BCT scores.

CTI publishes one sample paper per test, and its online book list has no BCT section. So save the official samples for a timed run near the end.

2027 dates and deadlines

CTI sets five BCT dates a year, and most centres use them. Its 2027 calendar came out in late October.

Here are the 2027 dates:

Source: CTI's 2027 test dates, published 27 October 2026. CTI's English version lists "7th November (Sat)", but 7 November 2027 is a Sunday; the Chinese version, CTI's date search and that row's deadlines all point to Saturday 6 November.

Paper bookings close about four weeks ahead, computer bookings about ten days ahead. Results take about two weeks on computer and about a month on paper.

Centres can set their own dates and earlier deadlines, and BCT Speaking runs on dates each centre chooses. Korea's office, for one, has two speaking dates left this year.

If you're aiming for January, book before mid-December for paper. Booking for CTI's last written date of 2026, 15 November, closed on 5 November.

Where you can sit the BCT, and what it costs

The BCT is far harder to find than the HSK. CTI says it has 1,522 test centres in all, but filtered for the BCT, its directory showed 58 listings. We read each one's calendar on 5 November.

Here's where the 55 listings with a BCT date were:

Source: CTI's Find a Test Center, filtered for the BCT, with each listing's calendar. A centre that runs paper and computer sittings has two listings.

If you live in the US, plan to travel. When we read the directory on 27 October, 79 US centres listed the BCT among the tests they host, but none had a BCT date.

In the UK, the Leeds Business Confucius Institute and the Chinese Proficiency Test UK Committee in London had dates. Australia had one centre, Griffith University's Confucius Institute in Brisbane, and Singapore had two.

Speaking is rarer still. Only two centres had a BCT Speaking date this season: the Korea office's computer centre and NTU's Confucius Institute in Singapore.

You can't take the BCT at home. CTI's 2026 and 2027 calendars list it on paper and on computer at a centre, and nothing else.

Each centre sets its own fee. The Leeds Business Confucius Institute charges £35 for BCT A and £55 for BCT B.

In Korea, the Korea office's booking page lists BCT B at ₩77,000 and BCT Speaking at ₩79,200. NTU's Confucius Institute in Singapore charges S$218 a test and runs every test on computer. Elsewhere, ask your centre before you book.

If plans change, CTI's candidate rules give a full refund up to 27 days before the test and half up to 10 days before, at centres in mainland China. You can also defer once, to a date within six months. Elsewhere, your centre applies its own rules: NTU refunds only cancellations made more than 30 days ahead.

Exam day, results and retakes

Written tests start at nine in the morning, local time, and CTI asks you to arrive 30 minutes early. Bring your admission ticket and your original passport, or your national ID card in your own country.

Be on time. Arrive after the start, and you wait outside until the listening ends, with no extra time. Once reading starts, you can't go in at all. For BCT Speaking, you can't enter after the start.

Phones, watches and other devices must be switched off and stored, and food and water stay outside the room. In Korea, a BCT B morning lasts nearly three hours, briefing included.

Results go online as an electronic score report, which you download with your admission ticket number and name. CTI doesn't print a validity period for BCT scores. The Korea office's FAQ says they're valid for two years from the test date.

CTI's score review service covers the HSK and HSK Speaking only, so it offers no online rescore for the BCT. If you want a better score, book the next date.

Where SayMei fits, and where it doesn't

SayMei is an app for learning Mandarin by speaking with Mei Lin, an AI teacher. For the BCT, it helps in two ways.

The first is the three free BCT practice books, one per test, in the task types of each, with audio and answers. They're free with a SayMei account. The second is daily speaking practice with Mei Lin, which builds the habits BCT Speaking rewards: answer straight away, explain, and give a view for a minute or two.

SayMei Premium costs $5.99 a month for 200 minutes with Mei Lin. Depending on your country, you start with a free first lesson or a free week that needs a card. We checked our pricing page in early November.

Here's where it doesn't fit. Mei Lin doesn't know the BCT's questions and doesn't score your answers against CTI's criteria. SayMei has no full BCT mock test, and our practice books' scores don't convert to BCT scores.

SayMei also teaches standard mainland Mandarin, in Simplified characters by default, so it won't prepare you for Taiwan's business usage. SayMei isn't affiliated with or endorsed by CTI or CLEC.

What to do next

• Ask what score is wanted. If an employer or client asked for the BCT, find out which test and which score.
• Pick your level with the word lists. Skim CTI's lists and our match above, then choose BCT A or BCT B.
• Find a centre and a date. Search CTI's directory for the BCT before you plan anything else.
• Take CTI's sample untimed this week. It shows you the format and your weakest section.
• Speak out loud every day. Answer a work question in Chinese, timed, before you open your inbox.

Not sure the BCT is the right test at all? Our HSK exam guide covers the test China's universities and work permits ask for.