During the last three to four years, Aardvark Translations has received an increasing number of assignments to or from Chinese.
"China has become an important export nation and many Swedish companies outsource their production," says Johannes Söderman, Managing Director at Aardvark Translations.
A major problem facing Swedish companies is the lack of English language skills when dealing with the Chinese. Apart from a few college-trained people, the skills in English are close to zero.
"Swedes are used to communicating in English and often take for granted that foreign companies speak English as well, which may cause major misunderstandings and problems."
According to Johannes Söderman, you should always use a translator when doing business in China. Translate all correspondence to avoid misunderstandings and to show respect to your counterpart.
"Always account for translations into your business partner’s language or things could go terribly wrong. One scenario could be a Swedish company outsourcing production to a factory in China with all instructions in English. An error occurs in the production due to a misinterpreted instruction by an employee. Who’s to blame and who pays - the Swedish company or the factory? This may lead to substantial and complicated conflicts."
With the Olympics in August, China is investing extensively in educating taxi drivers, hotel staff as well as Olympic delegates in English. However, it is still a very small part of the Chinese population and it will not have any major impact.
"Obviously the situation is improving. Young people with a better education are growing up. In addition to the change of generations, there is an increase in foreign business communication," says Henrik Danielsson, Manager at the Swedish Trade Council in Beijing, which is assisting Swedish companies with international business. Just like Johannes Söderman, Henrik Danielsson suggests that you bring your own translator when doing business as well as somebody familiar with Chinese business culture.
"There is a big difference between doing business in Sweden and China and subsequently, bringing a translator is not enough. This could obviously be the same person."
Emelie Ring, Editor Establishing Abroad