Translated's Research Center

China

Asia

To which language should you translate to localize in China?

What we know from our community

“There are a variety of languages being spoken in Mainland China, and mandarin was considered as
the national language by the early 20th century. As a way to encourage literacy, simplified Chinese
characters have been brought to use since the 1950s. Along with traditional Chinese characters
(which are still used in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan), they are two standard character sets of the
contemporary Chinese written language.

Not like many other languages, in Chinese, the writing system and the spoken language aren’t
interlinked. Furthermore, Chinese has no verb tenses, no distinction between singular and plural, and
no alphabet. There are several dialect groups in Chinese, the differences between these dialects can
be so huge which make some of them almost indistinguishable from each other. However, as the
language is not phonetic, the Chinese characters can be used to write both Mandarin and the
dialects.

Chinese speakers represent an exciting market opportunity, thus localizing to Chinese is very
important. Yet it can be very tricky without a good understanding of the culture and the market.”

LANGUAGE INSIGHT

Official language

Chinese (92%)

Actual languages

Chinese (92%), Zhuang (1.4%), Hui (0.8%), Yi (0.6%), Uighur (0.6%), Tujia (0.5%), Tibetan (0.4%), Mongolian (0.2%), Korean (0.1%), other (3.4%)

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in China

(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)

  • 106/150 localize by translating into Simplified Chinese
  • 8/150 localize by translating into Chinese
  • 5/150 localize by translating into Traditional Chinese
  • 7/150 localize by translating into both Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into both Simplified Chinese and French
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into both Simplified Chinese and Hmong language
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Korean, Chinese (Fuzhounese), Chinese (Hainanese), Chinese (Shanghainese), Chinese (Sichuanese), Chinese (Wenzhounese), Chinese (Yunnanese), Chinese Cantonese (Simplified), Chinese Cantonese (Traditional), Chinese Mandarin (Simplified), Chinese Mandarin (Traditional) and Chinese Sign Language
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Simplified Chinese, Portuguese, German, Korean and Japanese
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese, German, French, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Bahasa Indonesia, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Turkish, Russian, Thai and Ukrainian
  • Localization available 3M
  • Localization available ABB
  • Localization available Accenture
  • Localization available Adidas
  • Localization available Adobe
  • Localization available Airbnb
  • Localization available Aldi
  • Localization available Amazon
  • Localization available American Airlines
  • Localization available American Express
  • Localization available Apple
  • Localization available Audi
  • Localization available Autodesk
  • Localization not available Avis
  • Localization available Bayer
  • Localization available BMW
  • Localization available Booking.com
  • Localization available Bosch
  • Localization available British Airways
  • Localization available Bumble
  • Localization available Burberry
  • Localization available BYD
  • Localization available Canon
  • Localization available Capgemini
  • Localization available Cartier
  • Localization available Caterpillar
  • Localization not available Chevrolet
  • Localization available Cisco Systems
  • Localization available Citibank
  • Localization available Coca-Cola
  • Localization not available Costco
  • Localization available Dell
  • Localization available Deloitte
  • Localization available Delta
  • Localization available DHL
  • Localization available Disney+
  • Localization available Dyson
  • Localization available eBay
  • Localization not available Eli Lilly
  • Localization available Emirates
  • Localization available Ernst & Young
  • Localization available Facebook
  • Localization available FedEx
  • Localization available Ford
  • Localization available Four Seasons
  • Localization available Fujifilm
  • Localization not available GE
  • Localization available Gillette
  • Localization not available GoDaddy
  • Localization available Google
  • Localization available Gucci
  • Localization available Haier
  • Localization not available Heineken
  • Localization available Hermès
  • Localization available Hertz
  • Localization not available Hilton
  • Localization not available Hisense
  • Localization available Hitachi
  • Localization available Honda
  • Localization available Hotels.com
  • Localization available HP
  • Localization available HP Enterprise
  • Localization not available HSBC
  • Localization available Huawei
  • Localization available Hyatt
  • Localization available Hyundai
  • Localization available IBM
  • Localization available IKEA
  • Localization available Intel
  • Localization available InterContinental Hotels
  • Localization available J&J
  • Localization not available Jack Daniel's
  • Localization available Jehovah’s Witnesses
  • Localization available John Deere
  • Localization available Kellogg's
  • Localization available Kia
  • Localization available KPMG
  • Localization available L'Oréal
  • Localization available Land Rover
  • Localization available LEGO
  • Localization available Lenovo
  • Localization available Lexus
  • Localization available LG
  • Localization available Louis Vuitton
  • Localization available Lululemon
  • Localization not available LUSH
  • Localization available Marriott
  • Localization available MasterCard
  • Localization available McDonald's
  • Localization available Mercedes-Benz
  • Localization available Merck
  • Localization available Microsoft
  • Localization available Mitsubishi Electric
  • Localization available Nestlé
  • Localization available Netflix
  • Localization available Nike
  • Localization available Nikon
  • Localization available Nintendo
  • Localization available Nio
  • Localization available Nissan
  • Localization available NIVEA
  • Localization available Oracle
  • Localization available Pampers
  • Localization available Panasonic
  • Localization available PayPal
  • Localization not available Pepsi
  • Localization available Pfizer
  • Localization available Philips
  • Localization not available Pitney Bowes
  • Localization available Porsche
  • Localization available Procter & Gamble
  • Localization available PWC
  • Localization not available Revolut
  • Localization available Rolex
  • Localization available Royal Caribbean
  • Localization available Salesforce
  • Localization available Samsung
  • Localization available Sanofi
  • Localization available SAP
  • Localization available Sephora
  • Localization available Shopify
  • Localization available Siemens
  • Localization available Sony
  • Localization available Spotify
  • Localization available Starbucks
  • Localization available Steelcase
  • Localization not available Stripe
  • Localization available Subaru
  • Localization available Tesla
  • Localization available The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • Localization available Tiffany
  • Localization available Tinder
  • Localization available Toshiba
  • Localization available Toyota
  • Localization available TripAdvisor
  • Localization not available Uber
  • Localization available United Airlines
  • Localization available UPS
  • Localization available Visa
  • Localization available Volkswagen
  • Localization available Volvo Cars
  • Localization not available Vrbo
  • Localization not available Walmart
  • Localization available Western Union
  • Localization available Wikipedia
  • Localization available Wise
  • Localization available