Chinese to English Translation

This direction is used when a Chinese document has to be submitted in an English-speaking country. The typical applicant is an academic or commercial party applying to a university, employer or immigration authority in the USA, the United Kingdom, Canada or Australia with documents issued in China, Taiwan or Singapore. The document is written in Han characters, while the authority that will read it assesses it against a Latin-script Anglo-Saxon order.

Concrete examples clarify the direction: a researcher applying for a doctorate in the USA with a Chinese university diploma, a Chinese company presenting its registry and financial documents to its partner in England, the bank and civil status documents of someone going to Australia on an investment or student visa. What they have in common is that the document makes sense within the Chinese system while the receiving side cannot read it directly.

Academic applications account for the greater part of demand; the outward flow of China’s higher education output makes diploma and transcript translation the backbone of this direction. The second cluster is the international trade and investment documents of Chinese companies; the third is family and immigration files.

What these documents share as a difficulty is that Chinese institutional reality and the writing system are not directly recognisable to an English-speaking authority; beyond turning characters into Latin script, the translation connects two administrative cultures to one another.

Chinese official documents are often drawn up in the form of a notarial booklet (公证书), in which the original document, its translation and the notary’s statement are brought together in a single bound volume. The integrity of this bound structure is preserved in translation, because the English-speaking authority assesses the document as that whole, and a fragmented translation does not inspire confidence.

Bodies carrying out recognition assessments often verify the diploma directly through the Chinese higher education verification system, so giving the degree title and the institution in their official form makes that verification easier. The translation chooses wording that will not conflict with the verification record.

The Pinyin spelling of the name in the machine-readable zone of the passport is taken as the basis; even where the person has previously used a different romanisation, the passport form is the one used in an official application and is kept throughout the file. Otherwise the same person appears under two different names.

The colour, position and content of seals are described in the translation; since a red official seal carries more weight than a signature in Chinese documents, the presence of the seal and its text are conveyed explicitly.

Technical issues specific to Chinese into English

The first distinction is the script: mainland China uses simplified characters, Taiwan and Hong Kong traditional ones; which of these the source document is in affects terminology and character mapping. When names are carried into Latin script, the official romanisation in the passport (Pinyin on the mainland) is taken as the basis; a different romanisation is not used according to personal preference, and the same form is kept throughout the file.

In Chinese names the family name comes first; when they are carried into an English form, which element is the family name is confirmed against the passport, since otherwise the family name and the given name change places and the file becomes contradictory as to identity. As Han script has no spaces between words, the boundaries of names and terms are determined from context.

Institution and document names are rendered according to their function; the marking system is not equated with an English counterpart but explained. Since the date is given in year-month-day order in the Chinese text, the month is written out in letters in the English translation so that no confusion arises.

Official seal and registration details are kept in place in the translation, because the seal is the primary means of verification in Chinese documents; the content of the seal and its position are conveyed explicitly. Registration numbers are not translated but given as a reference to the record.

Which documents call for this direction

• Diplomas, academic transcripts and degree certificates
• Birth, marriage and hukou (household registration) records
• Company registry, employment and income documents
• Bank and financial standing documents (student/investment applications)
• Criminal record and residence documents

Recognition bodies ask for a detailed breakdown of the courses, the credits and the degree; a summarised translation leaves the assessment at a dead end. Across documents belonging to the same person, the romanisation of the name and the seal details are conveyed consistently.

In commercial files the exact rendering of the company name and the registry details is necessary for the parties to be identified correctly. In family files the relationship details in the hukou record are stated clearly.

Chain of certification

Because the destination is an English-speaking country, no sworn translator system comes into play: the USA and the United Kingdom ask for a signed statement of accuracy, Canada for a translator registered with a provincial association or an affidavit, Australia for NAATI accreditation. Because the apostille regime for documents coming from China began only recently, its current status should be confirmed from an official source.

For these differing expectations, look at the certification regime of the destination country and the document type requirements. Tell us whether the source is simplified or traditional, and which institution it is destined for, before you send the document.

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The information below is indicative; in this language pair the level of certification is set by the destination institution. Ask the competent authority for confirmation before you apply.