Recently updated on February 21st, 2024 at 08:14 pm
The world’s largest eCommerce market and the second largest market with 1.4 billion potential customers, it’s easy to see why China has become a popular business hub for international companies that want to increase their revenue. Whether it’s in China or any other foreign market, business cultures vary significantly from one culture to another, and your business content can’t remain the same for every nation.
For your business to succeed in the most competitive and challenging Chinese market, you must work with a professional Chinese business translation agency that can translate your content accurately, efficiently, and affordably.
What’s Business Translation?
Business translation refers to the translation of both formal and informal documents of a business from one language to another.
💡On a broader scope, documents required business translation include business cards, emails, memos, training materials, marketing files, tax documents, contracts, and legal terms that affect how your company does business.
Why is Chinese Business Translation Important?
When you take into consideration the fact that the Chinese market is the second-largest in the world with the potential to surpass the US in 2030, it becomes obvious that not translating your business documents into Chinese, your business should prepare to lose millions of dollars per year.
Not only that, but localization is also a crucial part of a Chinese marketing strategy. Localization is more than just conveying your brand message accurately, it means making the script more relevant to Chinese culture. Whether through dialects, colloquial words, slang, or tone, localization delivers content that resonates more powerfully with your Chinese audience.
Facts About the Chinese Language
The Chinese language is one of the most ancient languages in the world with a history that dates back over 3,000 years ago, and it’s part of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It’s also the most widely spoken language in the world, with 15% population in the world speaking it as their mother tongue.
Written – Simplified Chinese & Traditional Chinese
To increase the literacy rate, the Chinese government developed Simplified Chinese in the 1950s, and since then it is predominantly used in mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia. However, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau still use the more complicated Traditional Chinese characters.
The writing of Chinese characters is highly contextual, which means a small change in character composition can result in a completely different meaning. As a result, a professional Chinese business translation agency must understand thoroughly the meaning of a sentence and the language’s intricacies to avoid mistakes.
Spoken – Dialects in China
Although Chinese is often described as a single language, there’re many varieties across the country especially in terms of spoken Chinese languages. Mandarin, also known as Standard Chinese (Putonghua), is the official state language of mainland China. It’s widely spoken in northern and southwestern China though varies in slang and tones.
Cantonese is the main dialect spoken primarily in Guangdong province, some parts of Guangxi province, Hong Kong, and some Chinese expatriates’ communities worldwide.
💡The dialects in China are often not mutually intelligible, which means a piece of writing intended for one region might not be suitable for another. A professional Chinese business translation services provider must have an adept grasp of regional differences to produce works that communicate to the hearts of the targeted audience.
| Region | Written | Spoken |
| Mainland China | Simplified Chinese | Mandarin, Cantonese (Guangdong province) |
| Hong Kong | Traditional Chinese | Cantonese |
| Macau | Traditional Chinese | Cantonese |
| Taiwan | Traditional Chinese | Mandarin, Minnan dialect |
| Singapore | Simplified Chinese | Mandarin |
| Malaysia | Simplified Chinese | Mandarin |
| Overseas Chinese community | Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese | Mandarin, Cantonese, other dialects (Depends on location) |
A language is a dialect with an army and navy.
Max Weinreich
Different Types of Chinese Business Translation
Any document that is used in a business environment would fall into the broad category of business translation, and it usually requires a professional Chinese copywriter that has adept knowledge of your industry, as well as specific terminology and business jargon. Listed below are some types of Chinese business translation.
Business Card Translation
If your business takes you to China, you should ensure that your business card is translated professionally into Chinese as it’s the key to remaining in the sphere of contacts. A professionally translated business card also helps you portray a professional image, showing who you are, promoting what you’re doing and the company that you represent.
Business Contract Translation
Compound sentences are often used in business English contracts to make sure the contracts are logically and semantically right. When translating long sentences from English to Chinese, a professional Chinese business translation services provider should first understand the logical relationship among different components of the sentence, segment them and sort out the main components. In some cases, it requires the changing and recombining of word orders following the rules of Chinese expressions.
💡In addition, lexical terms and synonyms are heavily used in business English contracts, for instance, “owner” and “holder”, “power and authority”, “sole and exclusive”, etc. Similar to Chinese technical translation that requires translators to have an adept knowledge of industrial terminologies, Chinese business translation services providers should have a firm grasp of the difference of lexical terms as well as synonyms and translate accurately using Chinese business terms.
Business Email Translation
Want to keep your business ties with your Chinese partners or customers secured through communication? You work hard to create a professional image for your brand, so, why risk sending a poorly translated email? If you receive an email from a potential business partner that is machined translated fully loaded with errors, would you want to do business with them?
Your external communication is an extension of your business image. If you don’t want to miss a business opportunity because of a badly worded email, you should always get your emails translated by a professional Chinese business translation services provider.
Training Material Translation
For a business to be successful in China, it’s imperative that their Chinese staff must be well trained, armed with adept knowledge of their products’ optimal use and safety measures. The performance level of a well-trained workforce is significantly higher than one that receives little or no training.
Therefore, hiring a professional Chinese business translation company is critical for the success of developing a training program for the Chinese market.
Legal Terms & Policy
Documents concerning legal terms and policy must be clear, comprehensible, and stay in line with the rapidly evolving Chinese legal system. These legal documents are often held ramifications regarding compliance and accountability, as a result, they must be translated accurately to avoid unforeseen repercussions.
Just as the courts require a professional translator to interpret proceedings to foreigners, legal documents translated into Chinese must carry the weight of authenticity given by a professional Chinese business translation services provider with specialized training in international law.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Language is Translated the Most in International Business?
Here’re the 6 most translated languages in international business.
· English
· Mandarin
· Spanish
· French
· Arabic
· German
What is English Chinese Translation?
English Chinese translation is the process of converting a text from English to Chinese in a linguistically and culturally appropriate way.
Do Chinese Use Business Cards?
Yes, business cards are an essential part of business etiquette in China, and they’re used a lot in formal business meetings.
What is the Chinese Business Culture?
Chinese business culture is deeply influenced by Confucianism with a focus on collective effort, a hierarchy management system as well as values of solidarity, loyalty, modesty, and courtesy.
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