銆€銆€According to the report, translation companies enjoyed an 18.4 percent annual increase in number between 2003 and 2011, and a 15 percent yearly growth rate is expected during the 12th Five-Year Plan period. China now has 640,000 people involved in the translation business.

銆€銆€"In the past 30 years, the translation industry achieved historic success in fields including politics, diplomacy, economics, military, science and culture," said Guo Xiaoyong, deputy secretary-general of the China International Publishing Group.

銆€銆€"In the past, most translation institutions were affiliated with government departments or State-owned companies, but more and more private translation companies emerged amid the booming industry," he said.

銆€銆€Guo said China's trade deficit in book copyrights narrowed year by year. In 1999, the import-to-export ratio of publications was 15-to-1, while in 2011, the ratio fell down to 2.1-to-1.

銆€銆€Also, China's translators translated 9,763 books into different languages between 1980 and 2009. Besides traditional translating and interpreting services, the industry also developed in movie subtitle translation production, sign-language interpretation and machine translation.

銆€銆€However, the overall capacity of China's translation industry still "has a considerable way to go" to meet the market demand, Guo said.

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