Professional translation quality models in the People’s Republic of China: a qualitative survey

Abstract

In the People’s Republic of China (PRC) researchers have reflected on translation quality since the second half of last century. Today the translation market in the PRC is growing. The increase in translations has brought with it an interest in quality and in establishing guidelines to ensure it. This interest has materialized not only in theoretical publications but also in the publication of standards GB / T 19363.1-2003 and GB / T 19682-2005 and in a concern in companies to establish quality guidelines for their employees.

This article addresses the quality models of professional translation in the PRC. Its purpose is to present an analysis of the criteria and quality standards that are effectively applied in the language service companies in the PRC and to verify to what extent they coincide with official norms and with theoretical contributions. For this we have analyzed the websites of five translation companies based in the PRC. Our results indicate that these companies have translation quality criteria that can be related to factors such as professional competence of translators, use of technological tools, project management procedures, client relations and linguistic and textual guidelines, which are regulated by the above mentioned standards.