How to Get Outstanding Results with Chinese Business Document Translation? (P2)
China is undoubtedly a promising market for various global companies. To attract numerous Chinese customers and get more profits, Chinese business document translations are the key for you.
After part 1, in this part 2, we’ll take a closer look at some essential Chinese translation tips, so you can better understand what would best suit your needs using Chinese business document translation services.
#3. Define your target audience at an initial stage
Due to the differences between Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese and the different dialects used, you have to answer two key questions before kicking off your Chinese business document translation:
- Who is the target audience?
- Where is the target audience located?
Once you get the answers, you know the specific Chinese language to be translated, as summarized in the table below:
| 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, and other dialects (Depends on location) |
#4. Don’t use online translation tools
Aside from accuracy concerns, it’s crucial to be aware that when you use Google Translate, you’re generally granting Google – or whoever runs the service – the permission to read and keep the text of the documents you submit.
You can look back at the scandal of Translate.com in 2017 when the Norwegian Statoil company discovered that its confidential contracts, termination letters, performance reports, as well as other important documents were all available online with a quick Google search. It is simply because they had used Translate.com to translate them automatically.
The thing is Translation.com, or Google Translate will not hide this truth. However, it is not something that you should take the risk.
#5. Use a professional translation agency
An outstanding Chinese business document translation must ensure two things: Accuracy and Appropriateness.
Let’s look at these factors when producing a business Chinese translation:
- The dialects in China are not mutually comprehensible, which means a piece of writing prepared for one region might not be suitable for another.
=> The translator needs an adept grasp of regional differences to produce works that are naturally understood by the targeted audience.
- The writing of Chinese characters is highly contextual. A small change in character composition can result in an entirely different meaning
=> The translator needs to thoroughly understand the meaning of a sentence and the language’s intricacies to avoid mistakes.
- China has a specific culture that is different from the rest of the world
=> The translator needs an understanding of Chinese culture to convey documents appropriately.
- Business contracts or legal documents often consist of technical terms and phrases.
=> The translator needs to understand these terms and even more, the Chinese legal system to ensure everything in the translated documents is legal.
The above factors cannot be achieved with an automatic translation system or a translator with linguistic knowledge only.
A professional translation agency will ensure their linguists not only have proficiency in the specific Chinese language, but also have an understanding of the culture of the target customers, plus a subject matter expertise in the particular field. They also have quality assurance processes to guarantee their output.
#6. Make sure your translation agency uses the right professionals
Not all Language Service Providers will select the translators in the same way. Before you choose a translation company to work with, it is worth checking on several key factors:
- Native language linguists: Your translator must be translating into their native language. This way you can minimize poor-quality translations.
- Speakers of the right dialect: Alway make sure your LSP uses native speakers of the correct dialect with your target Chinese audience.
- Subject matter specialists – The translation agency should use linguists who have qualifications or experience in the field of the content they are translating. For example, to translate legal papers into Chinese, the translator must be a professional bilingual translator with specialized training in international law.
#7. Save money by using the right technology
Most document translation projects involve dozens to hundreds of documents; thus, efficiency and cost-effectiveness are often top priorities when setting up your translation service.
An LSP that employs Translation Memory (TM) technology is one of the best cost-cutting solutions to search for. TM is a database of already-translated words and phrases. To put it simply, you can understand a TM is in which: if a phrase has been stored, then the system will simply approve the already-agreed translation whenever it appears.
Most LSPs employing Translation Memories offer cost savings to their clients since this decreases the time and effort necessary to translate a document. Your document also becomes more cohesive when a technical term is repeated in a certain way.
Your go-to Chinese translation company
If you intend to enter the Chinese market, the critical steps include a deep knowledge of the Chinese industry and a comprehensive understanding of Chinese culture and language.
GTE Localize is a professional translation company that specializes in Chinese business document translations. To provide you with accurate and culturally sensitive Chinese translations, we have a team of experts of experienced and native Chinese translators with a thorough grasp of Chinese culture and customs.
Contact our Chinese translation experts for a free quote if you want to tap into the Chinese market but don’t know where to start.
