OUR RANGE OF SERVICES

CTS offers a wide range of language services to support your business operations. We aim to exceed your expectations on all of our services, on every occasion.

Interpretation

Professional interpreters for your meetings and events, anywhere in the world.

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Translation

Professional translations of your documents, websites, software, apps, and multimedia.

english to chinese CHINESE TO ENGLISH
Subtitle

Subtitles of your videos that are every bit as funny or informational as the original.

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CTS IN NUMBERS

We completed our first translation project in 1998. Since then, over 18,000 businesses and private individuals have used our translation and interpreting services worldwide.

337M

Words translated since 1998

2.3M

Minutes transcribed since 2011

1.1M

Minutes subtitled since 2014

98.7K

Projects completed since 1998

TRANSLATION COMPANY IN HONG KONG

As a leading Hong Kong translation company, we are perfectly positioned to support your business communications. Our mission is to help Hong Kong and overseas companies succeed in each other’s markets, one word at a time.

LOCALISATION & BRANDING

Drive customer engagement by translating your marketing content in a way that feels local.

GLOBAL OFFICES

Our office in Hong Kong is supported by our teams in Shanghai, London, New York, and Sydney.

OUR CSR PROGRAM

We donate to panda conservation projects in China, supporting a wide variety of initiatives.

QUALITY ASSURANCE

We utilize industry-leading QA software to eliminate errors and improve accuracy.

TWO DECADES OF EXPERIENCE

We have been providing translation and interpreting services for two decades.

HK CERTIFIED

Our certified translations fulfil the requirements and specifications set by the HK government.

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TRANSLATION SERVICES IN HONG KONG

CTS provides professional translation services in Hong Kong to international companies and global brands. We work with clients from all industries and sectors, from tourism and tech to marketing and manufacturing.

LEGAL

Legal translations of contracts & agreements by lawyers with translation expertise.

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CERTIFIED

Certified translations for visa & immigration, mortgage, and employment applications.

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WEBSITE

Boost engagement and increase sales by localising your website for a global audience.

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FINANCIAL

Translations for the banking, accounting, insurance, and investment sectors.

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PATENT

Translations for filing and litigation by patent lawyers with translation expertise.

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MARKETING

Companies of all sizes trust our ability to promote their brand in global markets.

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BUSINESS

International companies of all sizes have chosen us for their business translation needs.

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DOCUMENT

Document translations into Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, or any other language.

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5 HELPFUL TRANSLATION TIPS

We have completed thousands of translation projects over the last two decades, learning many valuable lessons along the way. Below we share five helpful tips to help you get the most out of your translation projects.

Free Revisions & Edits

Many translation companies in Hong Kong offer “unlimited revisions” on their translation services. However, at CTS, we do our best to understand our client’s requirements and provide translations that are never sent back for corrections. In other words, we aim to deliver high-quality translations that satisfy the client on the first attempt.

 

Proofread for Typing Errors

If your documents require translation into Chinese, you should ensure that the translated text is reviewed for typing errors. The proofreading task will need to be performed manually by a human since Microsoft’s spell checker cannot accurately detect typing errors in Chinese. This is because there are no spelling mistakes in Chinese, only incorrect usage.

 

Formatting

English text contracts by 33% once it is translated into Chinese. This is something to keep in mind if you are translating material for publishing, for example, websites, books, or magazines. Working with a company such as CTS which offers desktop publishing (DTP) services, means that your documents will always be perfectly translated and formatted.

Localisation is the process of adapting a translated text so that it is linguistically and culturally appropriate for a specific country or region.

 

Localising for Culture

Red represents danger in many countries, but it is a lucky colour in Chinese culture. The phrase “Stocks are in the red, is it time to sell?” would cause a lot of confusion to a Hong Kong audience if the translation did not explicitly state that the stocks were falling.

 

Localising Numbers and Currency

In Chinese, large numbers are counted in a unit called 萬 (pronounced maan), which represents ten thousand. One hundred thousand would be localised as ten 萬 (ten sets of ten thousand). Using 萬 correctly is essential to good localisation. Furthermore, when it comes to money, it is important to localize the currency to the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD), which is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

 

Localising Dates

The official formatting of dates in Hong Kong is YYYY/MM/DD. However, due to a European influence, it is common to see dates formatted as DD/MM/YYYY. A good localisation should format dates correctly for a Hong Kong audience.

Before starting your translation project, it is important to find out from your translation provider whether they will use machine translation. CTS does not recommend using machine translations for several reasons:

 

Literal Translations

Despite the advancement of machine learning and artificial intelligence, machine translation still cannot produce native-sounding translations. This is particularly true for translations between English and Chinese since the two languages are vastly different in language and culture. Furthermore, machine translation tends to produce awkward-sounding translations as it cannot restructure sentences effectively.

 

Security Issues

With the rise of data breaches in a highly digitized world, the security and confidentiality of your documents are more important than ever. Free machine translations require you to upload information to cloud-based platforms, and transferring important data outside company walls via potentially unsecure connections is never a good idea.

 

Inconsistent Quality

The quality of the machine translation depends on the quality of the original text. If the document is not written by a native speaker, or there is missing information, the machine translation quality will suffer. On the other hand, a human translator can ask questions and use their judgement to produce a high-quality translation on every occasion.

Translation technology can boost the quality of your translation projects. Some of the software that are available to professional translation companies include:

 

Translation Memory (TM)

Translation Memory is a database that stores “segments” of text which can be recalled on a new translation project. TM supports translation processes by significantly improving the consistency and efficiency of our translations, which leads to increased quality and decreased costs.

 

Termbase (Terminology Database)

Termbase is a terminology management software designed to collect, maintain, and access terminological data. If you have preferred translations of key terminologies or already have a glossary that you would like to use, we could use Termbase to help you apply them consistently to all your projects.

 

Quality Assurance (QA)

QA tools can assist in identifying common mistakes found in translated texts, examples include:

  • Inconsistent translations for identical sentences in the original text.
  • Translations that have different ending punctuation to the original text.
  • Translations of terminology which does not follow the glossary.

One of the questions we often get asked by clients is whether their files should be translated into Mandarin or Cantonese. The question is technically incorrect as Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken languages. The written forms of Chinese are Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

 

Between 1950 and 1960, the government of China introduced a simplified version of Chinese to boost literacy. Derived from Traditional Chinese, the simplified Chinese characters are written with fewer strokes, making them easier to write.

 

Today, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan have continued to use Traditional Chinese characters. Whereas Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore have adopted Simplified Chinese. Generally speaking, Chinese people can read both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Having said that, it is important to ensure your documents are translated for the correct markets since there are many terminological differences between the mentioned countries and regions.

 

Furthermore, machine converting your documents from Simplified Chinese to Traditional Chinese is not advised as localisation is required to ensure your documents are suitable for each target market.

LANGUAGES WE TRANSLATE

CTS offers translation and interpreting services in over 120 languages. Contact us directly for any language or dialect that you do not see listed below.

FRENCH

GERMAN

ITALIAN

SPANISH

RUSSIAN

CHINESE

JAPANESE

KOREAN

FRENCH

GERMAN

ITALIAN

SPANISH

RUSSIAN

CHINESE

JAPANESE

KOREAN

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ACCREDITED AND CERTIFIED BY

CTS is accredited and certified by professional translation associations in the UK, EU, USA, and China. We maintain professional standards in translation and conduct all our business dealings ethically.


TESTIMONIALS

Our clients praise us for our accurate translations, personable service, and on-time delivery.
Here are some of the amazing things they have said about working with us.

5.0

Google average rating

We work hard at CTS to ensure our service will exceed your expectations.

We strive to provide you with high quality and hassle-free translation and interpreting services.

  • thumb Marjorie 5 star review  

    I already asked this office to make a few translation for us and was every time super happy! Friendly and reliable team, good price and a really quick result!!! Thanks Carol... read more

    3/12/2024
    thumb Sofia Law 5 star review  

    Will definitely recommend CTS to our business partners.

    2/26/2024
    thumb SC Law 5 star review  

    Highly impressed with the service provided by CTS Translation Services. Their response was prompt and clear, and the translated document delivered was of the utmost professionalism. Will definitely be using... read more

    2/17/2024
  • thumb Eve Bai 5 star review  

    I cannot speak highly enough of this professional translation company. Some companies may claim 24hrs turnaround time for simple identity doc certification but they made it happen with proper certification... read more

    1/22/2024
    thumb Andrew Lau 5 star review  

    Super fast delivery. Very impressed!

    1/15/2024
    thumb Dawn Alice 5 star review  

    Brilliant service, very responsive and fast delivery.

    12/22/2023
  • thumb Randal Eastman 5 star review  

    Very fast and helpful professional advice. They pointed me in the right direction which is much appreciated.

    6/22/2023
    thumb Sandrine COURTILLET 5 star review  

    Good incoming query follow up, I received a feedback from CTC Team on the same day I sent an email request to them. They had a clear understanding of my needs... read more

    4/19/2023
    thumb Giorgia Zuccon 5 star review  

    I used CTS for a translation of my birth certificate and they were super efficient! I sent the document by email and the next day I received the translation. Quick,... read more

    3/14/2023

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CTS stands for Chinese Translation Services. We are a leading translation company in Hong Kong, providing high-quality translations in over 120 languages.

Some of the languages we offer include Chinese, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Russian, and Arabic. In total, we can translate over 120 languages. Please get in touch for the full list of the languages we can translate.

We charge on a per-word or per-page basis. We are fully transparent about our pricing, and there are no hidden charges when you work with us. Our pricing and turnaround time take into account the difficulty level of your text and the number of words. To get a quote, simply send us the document by email or via our quotation forms, and we will get back to you within 24 hours.

This depends on which country or region your translations will be used in. If your audience is based in Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Macau, you will need to translate your documents into Traditional Chinese. On the other hand, if your documents are for Mainland China, Malaysia, or Singapore, you will need to translate them into Simplified Chinese. There are slight differences in terminology between all the above-mentioned countries and regions, so it is advisable to let us know your target market when you place an order with us.

CTS does not recommend machine translation unless you only require a rough understanding of the document. This is because machine translation cannot produce the same quality translation as human translators. This is particularly true if you are translating between English and Chinese languages since they have very different cultures, grammar, and sentence structures.

Translation is the process of converting written language, whereas interpretation is the translation of spoken words. Localisation is a field of translation that involves adapting the translated text to be linguistically and culturally appropriate for a specific country or region.

A certified translation is a document that has been translated, signed, and stamped by an accredited translator. When you open a bank account in Hong Kong or apply for a visa at a foreign consulate, you may be asked to provide certified translations of your supporting documents. Documents that typically require certified translation include passports & IDs, birth and death certificates, marriage and divorce certificates, diplomas, bank statements, Certificates of No Criminal Conviction (CNCC), medical records, and business documentation such as contracts.

Before sending a document for translation, make sure it is the final version. Additionally, if you have preferred terminology and reference materials, please make sure that you send them to us before we begin the translation process. For certified translations, we are obligated to translate the document exactly as it is, so please make sure that there are no mistakes in the original document.

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