China is becoming a major player in the global economy and that trend is likely to continue for some time to come. In fact most people believe that it is just a matter of time before China becomes the dominant superpower and when that happens there will be a fundamental change in the way the world works. Regardless of what happens in the future it is becoming clear that the ability to speak Chinese is becoming a vital job skill for a number of people in the western world.

The primary reason to learn Chinese is for career enhancement, as business with China becomes more and more important the ability to speak the language will offer substantial career benefits according to our friends over at RecognitionSecrets. China is the most populous nation in the world, it is also one of the fastest growing economies in the world and most western businesses want to tap into that huge potential. China is one giant, and largely untapped, market and the payoff of getting into it can be huge. The problem is that breaking into the Chinese market is not easy, they do things differently than the that western businesses are used to working. This means that a lot of discussion and cooperation with both Chinese officials and business partner is going to be required. In order for that to work the two sides need to be able to communicate effectively and that opens up all kinds of opportunities for employees who can speak Chinese.

China has also become a major manufacturing centre for western businesses and that again means that communication with the Chinese is necessary. At the current time the products produced in China are mostly cheap products that take advantage of the low cost of labour, however that will soon change. Time and again we have seen that countries that are begin to industrialize in order to take advantage of cheap labour will move up and start to produce more and more complex products. Soon China will start to become a major producer of high tech products and after that they will start to design the products themselves. Eventually they will even start to do their own research and development, this route has been travelled by many other countries before. As this happens China's economy will become more and more integrated with that of the west and the ability to communicate will critical for most businesses.

As China's economy grows they will also start to become a major investor in western businesses, in fact this is already starting to happen. Businesses will find that in the future they are going to have to explain themselves to their Chinese share holders, to the point where it is very possible that there will be Chinese directors on the boards of large western corporations. The day will soon come when senior management will require an ability to speak Chinese.