China Mobile users, especially foreigners, will never have to worry that their non-English-speaking friends cannot read English messages, or vice versa, thanks to a service called SMSOK that the company launched on Friday.

"You type in English, send to 366321. In no time, an accurate Chinese version of the sentence will show up on the receiver's phone," Jin Zhengyu, deputy general manager of Beijing Communications Service Company, told the press on Friday.

"The translation can be as accurate as 85 per cent, since we are using the most advanced software, Linggotax, whose translation memory can enrich itself constantly."

Moreover, the translated words or sentences can be spoken in standard English or Chinese, and if mobile users so choose, messages can also be sent in multi-media messaging system (MMS) form, which can carry a much larger amount of content.

Michael Cheng, president of Beijing Mega Holdings Technologies, which provides software support for the new service, said: "This new project is not only a communication function, but also a powerful means of language learning."

For example, using the MMS function, users can look up the vocabulary in a certain industry.

"Nowadays languages have become a stimulating factor as well as a barrier in international communications," said Li Mingyi, vice-president of Beijing Foreign Studies University, who provides SMSOK with language translation support.

English is a mother tongue to more than 400 million people, while more than 2 billion people in the world use the language. Meanwhile, at least 1.3 billion are using Chinese and another 30 million are studying it in 2,500 universities and institutions worldwide. Last year the United Kingdom earned at least 10 billion pounds from exporting the English language.

"More foreigners are coming to China as the 2008 Beijing Olympics draws near," Li said. "Therefore, Chinese-English or English-Chinese language translations will become an industry with great potential."

Officials say that SMSOK is especially targeting overseas travellers to China.

"It is still too early to tell its market turnover in the coming year, but we do believe its language learning services will be an important profit in the future, such as using it for distance learning or even distance exams," Li continued.

Jin from China Mobile did not give an exact market prospect figure either, but said "it is very promising."

So far, China Unicom, China Mobile's major rival, has not launched a similar service. But Cheng from Beijing Mega said: "Future co-operation is possible. We will never give up any profiting market."

(China Daily 10/28/2006 page2)