Translating Key Terms In The Belt And Road Initiative: Problems And Solutions

This translation report,based on the author’s experience in multiple political and economic translation projects,aims at providing tentative solutions to the translation of key terms in the Belt and Road(“一带一路”in Chinese)Initiative.The“key terms”in this report refer to high-frequency policy-based concepts centering on the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by central or local governments in such fields as politics,economy,culture,diplomacy,education,and technology.The terms collected fall into two categories,the core and the derivational.Translations for the terms are collected and evaluated with the help of a questionnaire to identify major problems.Then based on relevant terminology theories,requirements and characteristics of international communication,and readers’response,this report proposes two guiding principles for the translation of key terms,namely equivalence in concepts and effects of communication,as well as five rules to be abided by in the translation practice,namely accuracy,transparency,linguistic economy,systematicity,and derivability.Accordingly,this report analyzes the current translations of 50 key terms collected in the Belt and Road Initiative,proposes and validates solutions to their translation.This report thus may serve as reference for the translation of successor activities for the Belt and Road Initiative,in an attempt to help with a better understanding of the vision and actions of the Chinese government,realize optimal communication effects,and improve China’s influence in the international stage.