The English proficiency¹ of people in China has reached its highest level since 2011, according to a report released last Wednesday.

上周三发布的一份报告显示，中国人的英语熟练程度已达到2011年以来的最高水平。

The country's proficiency ranking rose three places to 36th among 80 countries and regions, according to the 2017 English Proficiency Index of the Swedish education company Education First.

根据瑞典教育公司英孚的2017英语熟练度指标，在80个国家和地区中，中国的英语熟练度排名上升3位至第36位。

Proficiency in English among residents of Shanghai has ranked first in China for four consecutive² years, followed by Hong Kong and Beijing, the report said.

该报告指出，上海居民的英语水平连续4年领跑全国，香港、北京紧随其后。

Nine out of 10 people who took the test, which was developed by the company and consists of reading and listening, were not clients of Education First. The median age was 26; 48 percent were women.

在参加由英孚公司举行的、由阅读和听力组成的该测试的人中，其中90%不是受英孚的客户。这些人的中位年龄为26岁，48%是女性。

The English proficiency of people in 80% of China's provinces, municipalities and autonomous³ regions has improved since last year, thanks to education reforms adopted by the government and the opening up of Chinese society, said Melissa Lam, general manager and chief representative of Education First in China.

英孚教育中国区总经理兼首席代表林欣欣称，由于政府实施的教育改革以及中国社会的开放，自去年以来，中国8成省市区的居民的英语水平都有所提高。

"A lot of international conferences have been held in China in the past few years, which I think has helped with not only economic development but also with the development of English proficiency," she said.

她表示：“在过去几年中，许多国际会议在中国举行，她认为这不仅有助于经济的发展，也有助于英语水平的提高。”