Guangzhou takes steps to correct sign translations

A mini program on WeChat for the public to correct erroneous English translation of public signs in Guangzhou went online Monday.

The program enables people to upload pictures of public signs with English translations they deem wrong and provide more accurate versions.

The foreign affairs office of the Guangzhou city government issued a regulation on the English translation of public signs jointly with the Guangdong provincial administration of technology supervision and quality in 2009.

The regulation is being amended, and overseen by an eight-member expert team including Chen Mingming, former Chinese ambassador to Sweden and Lynette Shi, an adjunct professor of translation with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, the United States.

The amended version is scheduled to be released during an annual conference of the Translators' Association of China later this month.