The development of the Chinese language service industry was a main topic of discussion during China’s National Conference on Translation held in Beijing on December 6.

The conference, which marked the 30th anniversary of the Translators Association of China (TAC) was co-organized by the China International Publishing Group (CIPG) and the TAC.

A 2012 report on the development of China's language service industry was released during the conference by TAC and the Institute of China Transition Department.

Guo Xiaoyong, executive vice president of both the CIPG and the TAC, highlighted during the conference that the 2012 report was the first one ever published by the Chinese language translation industry since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The report shows that China's language service industry had an output value of 125 billion yuan (US$ 20 billion) in 2011, an increase of 26 percent over the 2010 data. The report further shows that the number of employees active in the language service industry has grown to 1.19 million, including 640,000 translators - 53.8 percent of the total number.

China's language service industry is expected to increase annually by 15 percent over the next 3 years according to industry development trends and other factors. By 2015 the combined turnover for businesses connected to the language service industry is expected to exceed 260 billion yuan, while the estimated number of individuals working within the industry will reach 2 million.

Despite these positive expectations the Chinese language service industry faces a number of challenges lying ahead. These include addressing such issues as a low threshold; lack of legal guarantee; small scale; low industry concentration; and international participation, according to the report.

Further information on the National Conference on Translation - 30th Anniversary of Translators Association of China is available at the event’s website.

By Alex Dupont
Marketing Communications Specialist
Language Translation Inc.

See Also

• Language translation is an important component of China's economic and social development
  A successful document translation should read as if it were originally written in the target language.
• Translation industry needs legislation and regulation by An Wei
  The National Conference on Translation marking the 30th anniversary of the Translators Association of China (TAC) was held in Beijing on Dec. 6.