All civil servants under the age of 40 will be able to speak English by the year 2015, Xi'an Evening News reported Tuesday.

Civil servants with a university degree and less than 40 years old should be able to speak more than 300 sentences after an English training program in the capital city of northwestern Shaanxi province, under plans approved by the municipal government on Monday.

The plans also aim to popularize English in many service industries including restaurants, taxis, police offices, hotels and hospitals.

The city will also provide multilingual counseling on its emergency call platform 120 to provide better services for local expats, according to the report.