A local think tank announced on Monday that it has rolled out a project aimed at enhancing the Putonghua level of primary and secondary students through the use of an AI-powered mobile app and offline activities.

"Putonghua Funlearning" is a collaboration between Our Hong Kong Foundation's Academy of Chinese Studies and Tencent Foundation.

It is free for schools to participate in the scheme.

Eddie Heung, a senior manager at the academy, said schools told them they didn't have enough hours each week to teach the language.

"They believe that there's a trend to let the students to have Putonghua learning in some funnier ways, instead of just some normal lectures at school," he said.

"So the app 'Putonghua Funlearning' introduces some games which have colourful graphics and strategic planning to let the students have some new ways to learn Putonghua."

Heung said the app offers instant feedback on users' pronunciation, and students can also earn points in games.

A five-day online challenge for primary school students in Hong Kong and Macau will be held next month.

The 40 children with the highest marks on the app will be invited to participate in an exchange tour in the Greater Bay Area in October to interact with students on the mainland.