The standard Chinese language (8)
I believe the answer is:
mandarin
'the standard chinese language' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for mandarin that I've seen before include "Top person in Whitehall" , "Fruity" , "Bigwig" , "Language formerly used by educated Chinese, or a kind of orange" , "Many millions speak of this" .)