On July 21st, the 2021 China National Annual Conference for Translation & Interpretation Education was successfully held. It was sponsored by the China National Committee for Translation & Interpretation Education and the National Office for Translation & Interpretation affiliated by China’s School for Academic Degree & Graduate Education, and organized by Jilin International Studies University.
The annual conference aims to better implement the CPC’s education policy in the new era and carry out the fundamental task of cultivating ethical talents in graduate education. This is done so as to serve the major needs of the country and the trend of foreign exchange and cultivate more translation and interpreting professionals with both political integrity and the academic ability for the development of the Party and the country. More than 600 people, including leaders of the Academic Degree Office of the State Council, members of the China National Committee for Translation & Interpretation Education, members of the Academic Committee of the China National Committee for Translation & Interpretation Education, heads of national MTI programs, and representatives of relevant industries all attended the conference. Focusing on the theme of “high-quality development of translation & interpreting education in the new era”, seven sub-topics, including “MTI education and ideological cultivation of translation & interpreting talents in the new era”, were exchanged. The conference was held both online and in-person, with nearly 20,000 people participating on the live broadcast platform.
Before the conference, participants took photos in the central square and walked into the venue. Professor Qin He (president of JISU), accompanied Director Huang Youyi and Vice Director Zhong Weihe of the China National Committee for Translation & Interpretation Education, and Liu Shuai, Deputy Chief of the Department of Graduate Education of the Ministry of Education, along with others into the meeting hall.
Huang Youyi delivered a speech and pointed out that it is necessary to provide China with multilingual, practical, and professional translation talents in order to help with the promotion of economic “dual circulation”, coping with the increasingly complex international competition, meeting the requirements of implementing “the Belt and Road” initiative or the mission of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and strengthening international communication ability in order to support China to better participate in the international community. The CPC Central Committee and relevant departments have jointly issued a document on strengthening the training of high-quality Chinese-foreign translation talents, and putting forward clear, systematic, and specific requirements on how to run the master’s degree in translation and interpreting. It is necessary to continue to hold the China National Annual Conference for Translation & Interpretation Education, train more doctoral students majoring in Chinese-foreign political translation, comprehensively improve the team construction of cultivating translation talents and translation education, further carry out the cooperations among the governments or organizations, universities and colleges, industry, and researches, as well as jointly compile textbooks, carry out practical activities, and cultivate a large number of high-quality translation talents who “love the country, have a firm political stance, superb professional skills, extensive knowledge, and a spirit of dedication”.
President Qin He of JISU delivered a speech, in which she said that professional translators are an indispensable force in raising the voice in the international community and serving the country’s opening-up strategy. It is the responsibility and mission of the MTI education system to cultivate qualified high-end translation talents and promote international discourse power. As a university offering MTI, JISU undertakes its great responsibility and glorious mission, looking forward to working with other universities together to cultivate high-quality translation and interpreting talents. It will further participate in the phase of building a community with a shared future for mankind and moving forward to the center of the world stage, and making contributions to the construction of Chinese voice power and the enhancement of the international influence of the Chinese voice.
In 2012, JISU began to recruit MTI students, covering nine languages including English, Japanese, Russian, Korean, German, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Italian, (this also includes a bilingual interpretation program of Japanese and Korean). Aiming at providing a comprehensive improvement on “virtue, ability, and quality”, and cultivation based on regional cultures, tourism resources, and advantageous industries, JISU is committed to cultivating applied, composite, and professional translators who are competent for oral and written translation in the fields of culture and tourism, publicity, business, and the automobile industry. Adopting “domestic learning plus study and practice abroad, plus professional internships and dissertation” as the training mode, JISU’s MTI pays special attention to the combination of production and education. The school established good cooperative relations with the Foreign Affairs Offices of Jilin Province and Changchun City, the Council for the Promotion of International Trade of Jilin Province, the Provincial Bureau of Economic and Technical Cooperation, FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd., CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd., etc. to set up professional practice platforms for students. In order to expand international exchanges, we have signed a cooperation agreement with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in the United States to jointly cultivate translators with double degrees. All the while the education quality of our MTI programs continues to improve. The graduate students have achieved excellent results in the LSCAT All-China Interpreting Contest, Cross-Strait Interpretation Contest, China Interpreting Contest, and other translation competitions, and have won the first prize of Jilin Province in the LSCAT All-China Interpreting Contest for nine consecutive years. Some postgraduates have become outstanding translators active in China’s diplomacy, foreign affairs, foreign trade, and other industries.
The 2021 Annual Conference was hosted by Zhao Junfeng, secretary-general of the China National Committee for Translation & Interpretation Education. There were 5 keynote speeches, 4 conference speeches, and 7 group forums. Liu Shuai, Deputy Chief of the Department of Graduate Education of the Ministry of Education, Zhong Weihe, Xu Jun, Jiang Hongxin, Vice Director of the China National Committee for Translation & Interpretation Education, and Yang Ping, member of the China National Committee for Translation & Interpretation Education delivered keynote speeches. Yang Weibin of Zhengzhou University, Lu Weizhong of Qufu Normal University, Dai Fan of Sun Yat-sen University, and Yu Chengfa of Hunan Normal University gave speeches at the conference. Chai Mingjiong, a member of the China National Committee for Translation & Interpretation Education, concluded the conference.
