Hokkien briefly emerged as a lingua franca among the Chinese, but by the late twentieth century it was eclipsed by Mandarin. The government promotes Mandarin among Singaporean Chinese, since it views Mandarin as a bridge between Singapore's diverse non-Mandarin speaking groups, and as a tool for forging a common Chinese cultural identity. China's economic rise in the 21st century has also encouraged a greater use of Mandarin. On the other hand, other Chinese varieties such as Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, Hainanese and Cantonese have been classified by the government as dialects. Government language policies and changes in language attitudes based on such classifications have led to the subsequent decrease in the number of speakers of these varieties. Tamil is listed as the fourth national language of Singapore and represents the Indian community. However, in reality, other Indian languages are also frequently used.