The School of Chinese is one of the four schools in the Faculty of Arts. Its unique identity is reflected in its combination of the study of Chinese language, literature, history, culture, philosophy, and translation into one single entity. It consists of five units : the Chinese Language and Literature Programme, the Chinese History and Culture Programme, the Translation Programme, the Chinese Language Enhancement Programme, and the Chinese Language Centre.

At present, the first three units, which offer courses primarily for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Faculty of Arts, have 1 Endowed Professor, 2 Readers, 2 Senior Lecturers, 12 Associate Professors, 1 Teaching Fellow, 1 Teaching Consultant and 2 Research Officers. There are also demonstrators and postgraduate studentship holders who assist in marking assignments and conducting tutorials for the undergraduates.

The Chinese Language Enhancement Programme provides Practical Chinese Language courses for undergraduate students of major Faculties and Schools in the University. Its enrolment exceeded three thousand in the year 2009-2010. It is currently staffed by 1 Assistant Programme Director, 1 Senior Language Instructor, 12 Language Instructors, 1 Assistant Language Instructor and several part-time Language Instructors.

The primary role of the first two units of the School of Chinese is to promote the understanding of Chinese language, literature and history; to further the ability of students in the use of the Chinese language; and to study the development of Chinese civilization and its place in the modern world. The Translation Programme is committed to producing high quality translators to serve the needs of Hong Kong and China. The School also aims at cultivating appreciation of the Chinese culture in its entirety and will move towards fulfilling its mission to disseminate Chinese learning and to promote the cultural interflow between China and the West.

The principal objectives of the Chinese Language Enhancement Programme are to help students acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in Chinese for future employment, to expedite their progress toward excellence in language use, and to make them understand that language improvement is a life-long self-learning process.

The Chinese Language Centre seeks to develop into a world-class centre in teaching Chinese as a foreign language.