China News Service, Guangzhou, October 18th. Title: Using the Canton Fair as a Window: The Transformation of China’s Foreign Trade Translation
China News Service reporter Wang Jian
The China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), known as "China's No. 1 Exhibition", is celebrating its 140th edition this year. It has been rising from the Pearl River for 70 years. This uninterrupted foreign trade event has always been a vivid window to observe China's opening up to the outside world and the iterative upgrading of foreign trade.
The changes in language communication methods hidden behind Sino-foreign negotiations are a condensed history of the evolution of China’s foreign trade. From the "Guangzhou English" of thirteen lines in the Qing Dynasty, to the shuttle of college student interpreters, to the popularization of AI all-scenario intelligent translation today... Each transition coincides with the era of China's foreign trade from breaking through the ice, growing open, to going overseas intelligently.
Looking back at Guangzhou during the Qing Dynasty, it was the only foreign trade port in the country, and the Thirteenth Bank became a global trade hub. There was no standardized business English at that time. In order to break down the barriers to Sino-foreign transactions, local businessmen in Guangzhou spontaneously explored and created a set of popular trade language with Cantonese phonetic notation and simplified grammar, which was called "Guangzhou English". For example, "What thing wantchee" is pronounced as "What thing wantchee". In order to facilitate practitioners to get started quickly, a simple booklet "Ghost Stories" was compiled by the folks. The words are simple and the sentence structure is straightforward. It does not seek elegance, but just usability.
This somewhat crude "local method" was China's earliest foreign trade communication system in modern times. It does not pay attention to grammatical standards, but accurately fits real trade scenarios, and successfully supported the busiest global trade channel in the Qing Dynasty. The first language jump witnessed the difficult start of China's foreign trade in exploring and opening up.
In 1957, the establishment of the Canton Fair opened a new chapter in New China's independent opening up to the outside world, and translation services also ushered in a second historic leap.
In the early days of the Canton Fair, foreign exchange resources were scarce. Starting from the first Canton Fair, the exhibition was equipped with full-time translators, who were the only bridge for trade communication. After the reform and opening up, the vitality of foreign trade was fully released, and a large number of companies went abroad in the 1980s. More and more salesmen are learning foreign languages by themselves and working as translators. In the 1990s, the Canton Fair ushered in a prosperous period, and the flow of foreign businessmen surged. "Translators holding placards" who took the initiative to take care of work could be seen everywhere in the exhibition hall, which became an iconic sight of the exhibition.
Mr. Huang, a 2002 alumnus of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, wrote in a recall article: "A group of young college students, black and white, stared at the exhibitors pacing back and forth outside the fence, waiting for the merchants to choose. Everyone held signs to show their language and level..." The second jump witnessed China's foreign trade moving from unified equipment to market-driven, accelerating prosperity in open growth.
Now, walking into the modern exhibition hall of the 140th Canton Fair, the third translation leap has arrived: the deep popularization of AI intelligent translation has become one of the most intuitive new changes in this exhibition. The humanoid robot "Xiaozhi" that provides tour guides in the exhibition hall supports more than 80 languages. A Chinese and English switching function is set up in the exhibition hall to facilitate foreign businessmen to experience the explanation services.
At the exhibition, many buyers and staff had "one AI dual-screen translator for each person". The staff used Chinese and directly output the buyer's mother tongue. "There is no need to wait in the process or hand over the equipment, and you can talk directly to the other party." Two-way real-time simultaneous interpretation makes cross-language communication close to the rhythm of native language communication.
At the iFlytek exhibition area of HKUST, AI glasses project translated subtitles directly onto the lenses, weighing only 40 grams, and support real-time translation in 122 languages, bringing multi-lingual capabilities into the first scene of "face-to-face" communication. A buyer from Brazil put on the iFlytek AI translation headset and immediately communicated business details with the staff in his native language smoothly. He also said that he hoped to bring such a wearable device that can translate multiple languages back to his country and sell it locally. "I hope our locals can also use such advanced equipment." The third leap witnessed the era of China's foreign trade from "language ice-breaking" to "intelligent overseas expansion".
The three "small" iterations of translation tools reflect the "big" changes in China's foreign trade. Along with the continuous iteration of intelligent translation technology, the level of China's opening up and the quality and efficiency of foreign trade development continue to rise. When more and more Chinese foreign traders are no longer deterred by language, China is embracing the global market with a more open, smarter and more confident attitude.
