With the coming 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the 18th FIT
(International Federation of Translators) World Congress in 2008
and the World Expo in 2010 -- both to be held in Shanghai, China is
expected to see a boom in the demand for translation services over
the next few years.
Designed to allow for talks on ways of regulating the
translation services market and exploring opportunities for global
cooperation, China International Forum on the Translation Industry,
sponsored jointly by the Translators Association of China (TAC) and
Tongji University, opened Sunday morning in Shanghai.
The forum, entitled “Competitiveness of China’s Translation
Industry Versus Globalization”, attracted more than 200
entrepreneurs from home and abroad engaged in translation work to
share their success stories in internationalizing their businesses
and increasing competitiveness.
“Self-discipline and effective market management are essential
to sustained development of China’s translation industry,” TAC
President Liu Xiliang said at the forum.
Liu, a well-known Spanish translator, proposed building up a
large contingent of professional personnel and qualified teachers
and enhancing the protection of the rights and interests of
translators and interpreters.
Basing on a comprehensive and in-depth investigation of the
market, Liu said, “Both national standards and appraisal systems
for translation and interpretation should be formulated or
perfected to promote the development of the industry.”
In 2003, the Ministry of Personnel entrusted China International
Publishing Group to organize and implement the China Aptitude Test
for Translators and Interpreters (CATTI). Breaking with the
conventional prerequisites for appraisal such as educational
records, the group regards professional competence and merit --
rather than seniority -- as important.
To build a modern translation service industry, Wu Xizeng,
general manager of China Translation and Publishing Corporation,
said, “We should regulate the management of the market, provide
specialized and professional services, make full use of information
technology, integrate available resources and seek strengthened
international cooperation so as to achieve common development and a
win-win result.”
Sheryl Hinkkanen, FIT secretary-general, observed that the
structure of the translation sector has undergone fundamental
changes worldwide at a very rapid pace.
Since the early 1990s, it had evolved from individual national
markets largely based on direct links in the service-provision
chain into “a global market involving a wide range of computerized
tools, international competition and long, often multinational,
service-provision chains,” she said.
Citing the newly formulated draft European standard for
translation services, Hinkkanen said standardization was one
response to the changed operating environment.
“Standards provide guidelines that will help the translation
sector harmonize its activities,” she said. “They also help clients
determine service quality. First came national standards and the
current development is towards a broader approach.”
The two-day forum, China’s first top-level international
gathering of those involved in the translation industry, also
includes four parallel sessions: translation service, translation
in publishing, translation and technology, and translation
training.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Shao Da, May 28, 2006)