Society

Translation industry forum held in E China

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-10-28 14:09

Nanjing - Approved by Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, the 10th Anniversary of China's Translation Industry cum Translation of Chinese Cultural Works Forum was held in Nanjing, the capital of East China's Jiangsu province, on Tuesday.

Dubbed as a gala in the translation industry in China, the three-day forum, offering an opportunity for the translation, publishing and education sectors to work out a blueprint for the industry, will focus on the following issues:

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* A review of China's translation industry in the past 10 years and discussion on the medium- and long-term development of the industry;

* Discussion on how to solve the bottleneck problems of introducing Chinese culture to the world;

* Discussion on the strategy of cultivating professionals to translate Chinese into English.

The forum echoes the call of the fifth plenary session of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that urges to push forward the development and prosperity of culture and enhance the national culture soft power.

China publishes a big number of books every year. But it is far from being a strong publisher. Many Chinese versions of foreign books can be found on the Chinese market almost at the same time when these books are on shelves in the foreign country.

However, it takes longer time for Chinese books to go abroad. Translation remains to be a big issue to this end.

Wu Wei, deputy director-general of the Information Office of the State Council, said on Thursday at the forum, "Publishing trade, physical export or copyright trade, has long been suffering from deficit. The biggest issue is translation."

To cope with the problem, the Information Office of the State Council and General Administration of Press and Publication have joined hands to start to implement a program to bring Chinese books to the outside world. Under the program, China Book International, publishing houses that translate the Chinese books into foreign languages will get financial support.

The program started in 2006. To date, more than 2,000 products have been translated, published and sold in foreign countries, More than 200 publishing houses are involved in the program.

During the past 10 years, the translation industry has set up its own organizations, formed its own standard and set up professional ethics.

Statistics indicate that by the end of 2009, China has set up 19,520 various translation companies with 15,039 companies in operation. These figures do not include the translators and interpreters working in the government departments and institutions as well as the freelance translators and interpreters.

According to Translators Association of China, there are 60,000 professional translators and interpreters in China. The total number of people engaging in the sector is between 500,000 to one million.

However, in some high-level occasions, qualified translators and interpreters still fall short, indicating that demand for professional translators and interpreters is high.

The forum, co-hosted by Central Compilation and Translation Press, Jiangsu Science and Technology Institute, attracts experts and scholars across the country to exchange views about the industry.