New HSK levels and native fluency

[Clashe]

So I was looking over the New HSK site http://english.hanban.org/node_8002.htm
and was wondering how each of the levels correspond to the vocabulary/fluency of a native speaker.

For example on the site it says that "Test takers who are able to pass the HSK (Level VI) can easily comprehend written and spoken information in Chinese and can effectively express themselves in Chinese, both orally and on paper."
But when does the average native Chinese speaker in China reach the level indicated by New HSK VI? High School level education? 4 year college? Later?
Does passing New HSK level 6 indicate that you have a level of language proficiency equivalent to being able to function as a native speaker, or does it just show that you have memorized vocabulary that is of a certain difficulty level?

Thanks, sorry if my question is unclear ^_^'

 

[Wan]

studying a language as a foreign language does of course not work the same way as learning your mother tongue. although I'm sure i have memorized more characters and know more difficult and abstract words than a Chinese eight year old, I'm sure the child speaks much more fluently than me. it will develop a feeling for the language, an understanding, and far greater capacity of expressing oneself than me, even if i swallow a couple of dictionaries.
that being said, i think that passing the HSK 6 level only means you know some chengyu and advanced vocabulary. it doesn't mean you pass for a native speaker in all situations of your everyday life.
Like me, i got almost the highest grade in a (fake) TOEFL, but you'll instantly know I'm not a native speaker.

sry for bad spelling, writing this using my phone.

 

[Andreas_LTL]

The new HSK levels are famously fuzzy and there is a lot of discussion what they actually mean and should mean. Officially they follow the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) however a lot of people argue that Hanban made the levels easier so they have more people passing certain levels and can report more "Chinese fluency of learners" around the world. We have a comparison of the official equivalents of Chinese language levels for HSK and CEFR, but a lot of people would disagree with it. However, as a first starting point, you could look at the CEFR definitions, which are much more detailed than the official Hanban HSK Chinese level ones and use that as a reference point. What Hanban really truly intends to measure with the HSK is a bit of a mystery unfortunately.