To successfully deal with foreign language discourse, a learner requires a set of competences. The present study employs statistical methods to examine the relationship between Chinese as a second language (CSL) learners’ intertextual competence and their reading comprehension ability, namely Pearson correlation. In addition, it explores whether exposure to the target language environment outside the classroom influences these variables. The sample of this study consisted of 30 foreign students obtaining their Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL) in two partner universities: Changchun university in mainland China and Ryazan State University in Russia. According to the language used outside the classroom, the participants were divided into two groups—with and without Chinese language immersion, respectively. Other educational conditions were viewed as common due to a cooperation agreement that required all participants to receive training from educators of the same Chinese university. The data collection procedure included specially designed reading tests with open-ended and closed-ended questions. The participants were asked to read 10 short texts and mark cases of intertextuality, explaining their source and meaning. A set of multiple-choice questions was then used to check their understanding of these texts. The results indicated the existence of a distinct correlation between intertextual competence and reading comprehension, indicated by a .87 Pearson coefficient. Descriptive analysis further proved that the inability to recognize cases of intertextuality resulted in failure to grasp the full understanding of the Chinese text. Moreover, learners exposed to the target language outside the classroom, in a CSL format, had a significantly higher level of intertextual competence. This suggests the need for classroom activities to facilitate intertextual competence development for the learners lacking such an environment.