BEIJING -- The number of non-native speakers taking the Chinese Proficiency Test rose by 4.6 percent in 2018 as 60 more testing centers were built, an official with the Ministry of Education (MOE) said Friday.

The test, widely known as Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK), has been open to foreigners and overseas Chinese at 1,147 locations in 137 countries and regions, said Tian Lixin, head of the department for language application and information management under the MOE, at a press conference.

A further 30 Confucius Institutes and 80 new Confucius classrooms were inaugurated last year, increasing the total number to 548 and 1,193 respectively in 154 countries and regions, Tian said.

To underpin Chinese language education for overseas Chinese, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council sent more than 1,000 outstanding teachers to over 260 schools in more than 30 countries, Tian said.

The HSK was first launched in 1990 to be a certificate of Chinese language proficiency for higher educational and professional purposes.