Written on 11 April, 2023

China’s importance to the UK as both an importer and exporter is well-known. China was the UK’s third largest trading partner in 2022 and several hundred Chinese companies were able to create 80,000 jobs in the UK in 2021. China recently amended its foreign trade law, resulting in an easier trade process to and from China and thus increased trade with countries such as the UK.

 

Some interesting facts about the Chinese language

  1. Chinese is the oldest written language in the world, dating back around 6000 years and has largely remained the same since it was standardised in the third century BC.
  2. Chinese has no cases, genders, tenses or plurals.
  3. There are over 80,000 Chinese characters, although only around 2000–4000 of those are in regular everyday use.
  4. Chinese is a tonal language meaning that a word’s pitch can drastically affect its meaning.
  5. Simplified Chinese was created by the Chinese government in the 1950s to encourage literacy.

Native English translators and high-quality translations you can trust

Surrey Translation Bureau is an award-winning and ISO-certified translation agency that has many Chinese to English translators on its books, specialising in an extensive range of translation areas and subjects.

We have a vast amount of experience in Chinese translation; during the year 2022, we translated around 38000 words from Chinese into English.

We assess each project on an individual basis, so that we can provide a translator who is an expert within this language combination and specialises in your text type and subject area.

Establishing the right connection in the right language variant

Reaching out to your intended audience in their native language is crucial, so it’s important to be aware of the customer’s preferred language variant. For example, English is not only the official language of the UK, it’s also widely spoken as a first and second language around the world.

China is a vast country with an enormous and rich linguistic and cultural heritage. For this reason, there are many variants of the Chinese language. There are also two very distinct written forms of Chinese: Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. Differences between the two include the number of brush strokes and characters.

Identifying these nuances and differences requires an expert approach when translating from one language to another. Ensuring your project or proposal can be understood down to the very last detail allows any communication barriers to be broken down, building up your organisation’s presence, prospects and potential on both a local and global scale, in the short and long term.

Why use Surrey Translation Bureau for Chinese to English translation?

Here at Surrey Translation Bureau (STB), we think beyond simply translating the text. We also offer a variety of language services to increase the functionality and outreach of your text. Our desktop publishing service is highly recommended when translating from languages like Chinese that use non-Latin alphabets. We insert the text manually into our client’s required format, ensuring that important considerations such as font and type size are carefully and appropriately reproduced; alternatively, we can check the final document if the client has done the formatting themselves.

No matter your individual or business requirements, the format or purpose of your text, STB’s dedicated and highly skilled team of Chinese to English translators can deliver the perfect text to fit your brief, enabling you to address your target audience effectively and successfully.

Contact a member of our knowledgeable team at STB to find out more about our Chinese to English translation service.

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