The requirement for a contract translator is closely related to the standard of contract translation which is an indicator for translated text. In order to be a qualified contract translator, there are various qualities that we should acquire, but this four are essential which have listed as follows.

1. Sense of Responsibility
As a translator for international business contracts, one should develop sense of responsibility, with the attitude of being serious and conscientious. International business contracts involve economic interest and sovereignty doctrine from the side of China and foreign parties.

A translated text should not only accord with the original documents but also consider various factors, such as law, economy, society etc. One should set a correct value and shape viable methods to analyze the original document. As to some content which are against our law and policies should be pointed out timely, which can prevent from damages.

What’s more importantly, a contract translator is a proofreader for the original document, which is a biggest difference separate them from other common translators. For example, a provision mentioned in a Contract for Sino-foreign Joint Venture which is drafted from the foreign party:

In case of an inability to continue operations due to heavy losses in successive years as a result of Force Majeure, the duration of the joint venture and the contract may be terminated prior to the time of expiration after unanimous agreement of the board of directors．

Some of this provision was contrary to our law, which was found by a translator. After serious consultation from both sides, “approval by the original examination and approval authority” was added into the previous provision.

Read Also: 4 Requirements For a Qualified Contract Translator (II)

2. Bilingual Proficiency
The process of translation actually is to understand original files and express them appropriately. Contract translation as many other translations, require an ability to express words from original file and combine target language appropriately. Lack of any step will affect the quality of translation. Set “market” as an example. It can be used as a verb or a noun. When it used as a noun, it means “市场”，but this word has a different meaning in different situations. For example:

The retail list price of party A’s Products represents the fair market value to the consumer．

In this sentence, “fair market value” should be translated as “公平市价” rather than “公平市场”.

“market” have different meaning in different context, we can look at this sentence to find another meaning for “market”. We also should realize that a word “market” should be comprehended to many different meanings, which require us have a broad understanding of words’ meaning,

To be continued…