Grouphorse announced today an impressive lineup of judges for the 2019 China Interpreting Contest National Final, which will be held at Beijing Foreign Studies University this Sunday.

The contest is jointly sponsored by Grouphorse and the International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders (CIFAL) in Shanghai (CIFAL is part of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research( UNITAR)).

This lineup including the who’s who of the translation and interpreting world, namely seasoned linguists, professors, scholars and A-list practitioners, is expected to bring experience and expertise to the contest. 

The judges are:

• Chen Mingming

  Executive Vice President of the Translators Association of China (TAC)

  Former Director-General of the Department of Translation and Interpretation (DTI) at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)

• Xu Yanan 

  Former DTI Director-General  

  Former Chief of the Chinese Translation Service of the Documentation Division of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) at the UN

  Chief Advisor on Translation and Interpretation at Grouphorse

• Ren Xiaoping 

  Former DTI Deputy Director-General 

  Former Vice President of China Foreign Affairs University

• Zhong Weihe 

  TAC Executive Vice President and Director of the TAC Interpreting Committee

  Vice Chairman of the China National Committee for Translation and Interpreting Education(CNCTI)

  Former President of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GUFS)

• Ren Wen

  Dean of the Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation of Beijing Foreign Studies University

• Zhao Junfeng

  CNCTI Secretary-General

  Director of the GUFS Center for Translation Studies 

• Zhan Cheng

  Secretary-General of the TAC Interpreting Committee

  Doctoral Supervisor at Sun Yat-sen University

  Member of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC)

• Yu Lijun

  Executive Dean of the School of International Development and Cooperation of the University of International Business  and Economics

• Yukteshwar Kumar

  Course Director for the MA in Translation and Interpreting (Chinese Stream)  and Doctoral Supervisor at the Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies of the University of Bath

• Wang Jianqing

  DTI Deputy Director 

  AIIC Member 

• Zhou Jingqi

  Assistant to the President of Grouphorse 

  General Manager of Grouphorse Global Center for Translation and Interpreting

  Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL)

The contest consists of the four rounds, namely the Preliminary Round, Province-Level Semifinal, Regional Semifinal, and National Final.

• Preliminary Round (From Late September to mid-October, consisting of two parallel selections)  

       —Grouphorse Inter-College Selections

           Knockout (E-C Interpreting)

           The top 40% of entrants will make the final that takes place on the same day.

           Final (C-E Interpreting)

          The number of entrants to advance to the province-level semifinals will be decided by the Organizing Committee taking into account relevant factors.

In principle, the Grouphorse Inter-College Selections are limited to entrants from nine cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Chengdu, Changsha, Hangzhou, and Wuhan

 — College Selections/Recommendations

            a. College Selections

            Knockout (E-C Interpreting)

            The number of finalists will be decided by schools themselves.

            Final (C-E Interpreting)

           In principle, at most 3 students from every school can enter the Province-level Semifinal (The number of entrants to advance to the province-level semifinals will be decided by the Organizing Committee taking into account relevant factors).

           b.College Recommendations

        Only those schools incapable of running selections are allowed to recommend their students to the Organizing Committee as potential province-level semifinalists, the number of which will be decided by the Committee taking into account relevant factors.

• Province-Level Semifinal (From late October to early November)

       Knockout (E-C Interpreting)

        The top 40% of entrants will proceed to the final that takes place on the same day

        Final (C-E Interpreting)

     In principle, the top 15 entrants from each province/municipality/autonomous region/special administrative region will advance to the regional semifinal (The number of entrants to advance to the regional semifinals will be decided by the Organizing Committee taking into account relevant factors).

• Regional Semifinal (Held on November 30 (Eastern, Southern, Northern, and Central Divisions), and December 1 (Western Division))

       Knockout (E-C Interpreting)

       The top 40% of entrants will proceed to the final that takes place on the same day.

       Final (C-E Interpreting)

       The 10 highest ranking entrants from each regional division will proceed to the National Final. The Organizing Committee will connect them to domestic internships and jobs in organizations in the industry, government bodies, businesses and public institutions, and opportunities of overseas training and study.

       Wild Card

Each regional division (the Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western, and Central Divisions) will vote for 2 wild cards out of their top scoring 5 entrants eliminated at the Regional Semifinal stage. Altogether 10 wild card entrants will proceed to the National Final.

The Regional Divisions are:

-Eastern Division (Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui, and Jiangxi)

-Southern Division (Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macao)

-Northern Division (Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning, Shandong, Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Inner Mongolia)

-Central Division (Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hunan, and Hubei)

-Western Division (Sichuan, Chongqing, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Tibet)

•  National Final (December 29)

       Consecutive Interpreting (E-C interpreting)

       The top 24 of entrants will proceed to the Consecutive Interpreting (C-E interpreting) round.

       Consecutive Interpreting (C-E interpreting)

       The top 12 of entrants will proceed to the Dialogue Interpreting round.

       Dialogue Interpreting (Consecutive Interpreting (E-C & C-E Interpreting))

The prizes include: 

-Champion, Runner-up, and Third Place (Grand Prize -3)

-First, Second and Third Prize (First prize -3, Second prize -6, Third prize -12)

-Awards for Achievement in Certain Areas ( “Best Presence”, “Outstanding Organizing Efforts”, “Excellent Instructor”)

• National finalists will receive trophies, cash prizes, and award certificates authorized by the UN system; the Organizing Committee will connect them to domestic internships and jobs in organizations in the industry, government bodies, businesses and public institutions, and opportunities of overseas training and study.

• Fully funded simultaneous interpreting course during the winter/summer vacation will be offered to finalists except for the Grand Prize winners.

• Fully funded interpreting internship in the UN system will be offered to Grand Prize winners.

• Instructors will receive full funding to accompany these winners on their UN internship.

Letter of Support for 2019 China Interpreting Contest from UNITAR: