Translated files boost nation's influence

The official translation bureau is making more central government documents available in other languages to meet the increasing demand from people and organizations around the world who want to know more about the country.

"China has an urgent need to strengthen communication with the world as our development continues," said Jia Gaojian, head of the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau. "We must provide sufficient information so the world can understand China.

"The bureau has expanded its work and has started translating documents from the annual plenary sessions on a routine basis.

"In the past, such documents were only translated from time to time in response to the central government's requirements," Jia said.

The bureau operates under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and is primarily responsible for translating central government documents and material written by the country's leaders.

The new approach took effect in October at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC. Documents have been translated and published in a series of books in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Arabic and German.

Liu Mingqing, the head of the bureau's publishing arm, plans to promote the books at international book fairs, including the ones in New York and Frankfurt.

The bureau's regular work includes translating documents from the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as well as documents from the CPC's National Congress every five years.

The documents, showcasing the thoughts of the top leaders and the central government's strategic plans for the country's development, are written in serious and dry language in Chinese. However, the translators have adopted a more readable style.

"We change the verbs and sentence structures to suit our readers, keeping them awake while reading serious documents," said Jiang Mingwei, head of the French section of the bureau's Central Document Translation Center.

luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn