The overall requirements for learners from the new HSK levels are:

• Understand simple Chinese texts
• Make daily conversations on limited topics
• Use simple communication strategies to help
• Have some knowledge of Chinese culture and cross-cultural communication skills

We can tell there are two major difference compared to old HSK 1 to 4/5:

• Chinese characters are required right away from the very beginning, while the old HSK1 and HSK2 only required Pinyin on exams
• Culture and cross-cultural communication are included

Language topics B3
Travelling, school/work description, entertainment activities, festivals, education, occupations, etc.

Example tasks are talking about your plan over the Chinese Spring Festival; send out a formal either written or oral invitation for an activity.

Listening B3
Understand long sentences, short paragraphs, and simple speeches (within 300 words).
Students must be able to understand standard Putonghua or slightly accented, clear and normal speed Chinese Mandarin, which means the speed shall be around 180 characters per minute.

Understand more complicated situations via the changes of tones, speed and emotions in the speakers.

Speaking B3
Pronounce 608 pinyin syllabus correctly (example: chǎn, móu, quē, shuāng). Students must be comfortable in daily conversations, and be able to hold some discussions.

Reading B3
Recognize 608 pinyin syllabus, 900 Chinese characters, and 2245 vocabulary.
Be able to read texts (with 300 Chinese characters) at a speed no less than 120 Chinese characters per minute.
Be able to get information from narrative or explanatory texts
Get the meaning of new words with a dictionary.
Have the reading skills of skimming and skipping reading.

Writing B3
Know how to handwrite 300 basic characters from memory. Example: 喜(xǐ to like), 影(yǐng, shadow). Students should be comfortable with strokes, stroke orders, and all the punctuations, and must be able to copy characters correctly at a speed of no slower than 20 characters per minute.

Students must be able to compose emails, announcements or compositions of no less than 200 characters within the required time limit.

We’ll later look at the new intermediate levels, a level in which you are supposed to be able to work and study in China.