Traditional Chinese characters are the original form of written Chinese, with roots tracing back thousands of years. They are complex, with more strokes per character, and are used mainly in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and among overseas Chinese communities. Simplified Chinese characters were developed to increase literacy in China. Introduced in the 1950s in mainland China, they have fewer strokes and simpler forms. Simplified characters are the standard in mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia.