China: A $1.3bn Translation Market?
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According to this
article China's translation market is anywhere
between US$1.3bn and US$2.5bn; this is according to
the Translators
Association of China.
Also according to the assocation,
there are 3,000 registered translation companies in
China, although the article mentions that there could
be more than 10,000 agencies (primarily mom and pop
types) in all.
This market revenue estimate seems
a bit steep to me. If we assume that the 3,000 registered
firms are doing $2bn in revenues, that would mean
each firm is averaging more than half a million dollars
in revenues. Since most small firms in the US and
Europe average less than $200,000, I'd say the $2bn
number is aiming a bit too high. If we were to try
to get to $2bn using all 10,000 Chinese firms, each
firm would still need to generate US$180,000 -- still
too high on average.
Of course, the wild card here is what
percentage of revenues is driven by the Chinese government.
Perhaps the government alone is contributing $500m
or so to the pie; if that's the case I can see how
the association is reaching this market estimate.
Any thoughts/input from you vendors
out there?
PS: I almost forgot the mention the
point of the article: "The State Commission for
Administration of Standardization recently approved
China's first set of standards on the quality of translation,
effective from Sept. 1 of this year."
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