in china, including both the mainland and Taiwan. English has also become the foreign language of choice. a professor at Beijing normal university informed me not long ago that there are a million teachers of English in the people's republic. As with india, the figures for the total population of chinese users and learners are uncertain, but 200-300 million is probably a fair estimate. this means that, between them. india and China apparently already account for at least half a billion users and learners of English. a total that could make the continent. in demographic terms. the heaviest consumer of English in the world and even if this is not so at the time of writing. it is likely to become so in the not far distant future.