HSK 漢語水平考試

HSK 5: requirements, vocabulary and CEFR level

Follow and join discussions on general and some abstract topics; read newspapers and magazines with effort; write structured texts.

The short answer

HSK 5 is an intermediate level in the nine-level HSK 3.0 standard. This page shows its vocabulary and character targets, test format, pass mark, estimated study hours and approximate CEFR equivalent.

3600Words

1527Characters to read

550Characters to write

133Minutes

CEFR (approx.)

How official is that?

approximate (no official mapping; disputed)

Old HSK 2021 word count

4316

Sections

Written exam (about 72 items, about 110 min) plus separate HSK 5 speaking test (about 23 min)

Notes

HSK 3.0, 2025 syllabus (effective Jul 2026; exams from 13 Dec 2026). Cumulative counts. Character count = characters to recognise; writing list separate.

Kungfucius says: Most universities' magic number. Newspapers become readable, briefly, between dictionary look-ups.

How it compares

HSK 5 ≈ CEFR B2approximate (no official mapping; disputed)CTI has published no official CEFR mapping for HSK 3.0; this is an approximate match based on HSK 3.0 cumulative vocabulary (2025 syllabus) and can-do descriptors compared with CEFR descriptors. The German Fachverband Chinesisch argued (about HSK 2.0) that HSK levels sit lower on the CEFR than CTI implied, so treat any mapping with care.

Keep reading

/tests/hsk/level-4//tests/hsk/level-6//tests/hsk/study-plan//tests/hsk-to-cefr/