Legal translation for matters that involve China

Under China's translation standards and industry practice, the workload of translation in both directions is measured by Chinese characters. To compare the amount of information in different languages you need one common unit, just as prices in different currencies can only be compared once converted into a single currency.

The Chinese market as a whole prices on this basis.

In normal circumstances the ratio of English words to Chinese characters is about 1 to 1.8, so 1,000 English words come to roughly 1,800 Chinese characters. Spoken language runs lower, around 1 to 1.5, and formal written language higher. We estimate with 1 to 1.8.

If the actual count differs noticeably from our estimate, we settle on the actual count.

Yes. The unit price is then multiplied by 1.8, so the total is the same. Word counts can differ slightly between software versions; as a rule we take the word count in Microsoft Word as the reference.

Yes.

In many countries the translator's personal signature is essential and the company seal is secondary. China is the reverse: translations are normally stamped by the translation agency, the translator's signature is supplementary, and the agency bears final responsibility for accuracy.

Not necessarily. For short documents we usually attach the original behind the translation and apply a cross-page seal, with a round seal on each page of the translation. For large documents this is hard to do, so we generally stamp only the translation.

Ordinary documents typically take three days and can be expedited to one day, plus courier time.

For urgent needs we hold an electronic seal filed with the authorities. We can email a stamped electronic version, which you can use directly or print in colour.

The formal requirements are usually modest: a business licence and a corporate membership certificate of the Translators Association of China.

There is also an informal requirement: the company should have a good reputation, with no notable adverse record with the relevant authorities for translation quality.

Yes. Our Foreign-related Notarization Center advises on the right route for your document and destination country, translates and checks the documents, and coordinates with notary offices and the authorities. Notarization and authentication themselves are carried out by the notary offices and competent authorities.

In our experience, about 65% of projects start from scanned files, such as image PDFs, that AI cannot recognise and translate accurately. About 20% have complex layouts, with mixed text and images, footnotes and comments that AI struggles to handle. About 10% are editable Word files, but the client needs the translation stamped with a translation company's seal to give it legal effect.

In the remaining 5% or so, lawyers sometimes use AI themselves for simple content, but when the caseload rises they still turn to a professional firm for speed and quality.

A translation provided to others carries responsibility. More and more in-house counsel recognise that an AI translation is fine for their own reading, but anything sent outside the company must be reviewed and revised carefully. That review is heavy work, and hidden errors in AI output, often called hallucinations, are hard to spot.

AI translation predicts words from local context. When it reads a buy-back clause it tends to link "Principal" with debt or liability, and when it reads a non-compete clause it links it with staff or services. It does not go back to the definitions section at the start of the agreement, and it has no instinct for consistent terminology across the whole document.

"Principal" is itself a word with several meanings: the principal debtor in guarantee law, a major shareholder in company law, the principal in agency law. AI's flexibility, choosing the most plausible rendering in each context, becomes destructive when legal text demands one term with one meaning.

This is not a lack of ability. AI looks for the locally best answer, while legal translation requires a single answer that holds across the whole document. That is why, for important legal documents, Qidu places its emphasis on outstanding translators.