New era presents translators opportunity

China's translation services should keep pace with the country's rapid development in the new era and enhance their ability to present a true, multidimensional and panoramic view of China to the outside world, Guo Weimin, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, said on Saturday.

"There is a historic opportunity for translation work, as China's relationship with the rest of the world is closer than ever," he said at the annual meeting of the Translators Association of China in Beijing. "Translators should take advantage of this opportunity and keep in mind the mission to introduce China's development and changes to the world."

He said translation services should also play a larger role in promoting communication between people from home and abroad by telling China's stories, both past and present, to the world.

A report released by the association on Saturday said China has 369,935 companies offering language services and 9,734 enterprises with such services as their main business. Their total revenue last year was 37.2 billion yuan ($5.3 billion).

English, French, Japanese, German and Russian are the five top foreign working languages in China, according to the report, while people fluent in Italian, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai are urgently needed by domestic enterprises.

Du Zhanyuan, president of China International Publishing Group, said China had achieved great advances in international communication, cultural exchanges and the construction of its discourse system in past years.

"The quality of translation services reflects a country's soft power and also plays a crucial role in enhancing the power of our voice on the international stage," he said.

Kevin Quirk, president of the International Federation of Translators, said he was impressed by the theme of this year's TAC annual conference: Translation in China - 70 years of development.

"Every time I have attended the TAC conference, I have been extremely impressed by the themes you have chosen for your conferences, and this year's theme is indeed no exception, mirroring as it does 70 years of development of the People's Republic of China," he said.

At the event, the TAC released the first Work Manual of Chinese Political Discourse Translation, aimed at standardizing the translation of Chinese political discourse and helping foreigners better understand China's political policies and theories.

Cao Du, Gu Jinpin, Lin Hongliang, Wang Nongsheng and Wang Zhiliang were given the Lifetime Achievement Award in Translation, the top honor conferred by the association, for their contributions to the promotion of translation and cultural exchanges between China and the world.