China’s implementation of language strategies to support OBOR

【Abstract】Language communication plays an integral role in the implementation of “One Belt， One Road” since different nations and ethic groups have to exchange， corporate or compete by means of languages. Under such circumstances， China has already laid down corresponding policies and is gradually promoting language construction.

【Key words】OBOR； language policy； communication

【作者簡介】魏也娜（1997.5.26- ），女，山西長治人，武漢大學外國語言文學學院本科在讀大三，主要研究方向：英語語言文學。

1. Introduction

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road， better known as “One Belt， One Road” （abbre. OBOR） is a development strategy started by the Chinese government in 2013. It has made cross-border trade， infrastructure construction， new financial institutions hot topics. Meanwhile it is noted that there are nearly 50 official and national languages involved and this number reaches more than 200 if important minor and tribal languages are included （Tian， 2015）. To achieve effective and efficient communication between countries and nations becomes a priority.

2. Language strategies to support OBOR

The language strategy is built on the premise that progress on language planning and policy will pave the way for economic and cultural progress. Policy support， standard translation and the construction of terminology library are under way.

2.1 Policy support

According to the Notice of National Committee of Language of the Ministry of Education on issuing The 13th Five-Year Plan of National Language and Character Undertakings（2016）， OBOR appears three times. This is the only development strategy that reappears in a seemingly irrelevant notice， implying the close connection between language strategy and national development. The 13th Five-Year Plan outlines the objectives and goals of language policy for 2016-2020. With regard to OBOR， it lays emphasis on the functions of language service in specialized fields such as commerce and politics. It is clearly stated in the Development Goals that language should serve as a tool to play a supporting role in national strategies and maintain national security. Language services should be able to respond to the growing diversified needs of language application of the public.

2.2 Standard translation of relative terms

On September 21， 2015， National Development and Reform Commission， Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Commerce together standardized the English translations of OBOR expressions. In official documents， OBORs full name “絲綢之路經濟帶和21世紀海上絲綢之路” is translated as “the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road”， abbreviated as “the Belt and Road” or “B&R;”. “倡議” is translated as “initiative”. “Strategy”， “project”， “program”， “agenda” alike are not suggested.

The authoritative translation drew an end to the confusing situation of term usage， and the slight changes indicate great effort in remolding the discourse image， declaring that OBOR is a proposal initiated by China to seek opportunities， to connect the world， to serve China and benefit others， not to impose her ideology on neighboring countries.

2.3 Construction of terminology library

Another important step of standardization and unification is the construction of terminology library. On December 2nd， Forum on languages services for the Belt and Road Initiative opened in Beijing. The two-day event aimed to promote the countrys political discourse system through language services. During the meeting， The Standardized Translation Term bank of Speech with Chinese Characteristics was released. This is the first authoritative multilingual terminology library on national level， encompassing about 50 thousand technical terms in English， French， Russian， Germany， Japanese， Korean， Spanish， Arabic and Portuguese. The latest political discourse in China， terms about Dunhuang culture， minority culture and some other intangible cultural heritages are included in the term bank. More efforts are being made to enrich the vocabularies and expressions.

3. Conclusion

China has attached great importance on the formulation of language policies and has taken sound steps in realizing the potential of language to support OBOR. However， it is admitted that there is still a long way to go before China gain enough support from our reserve of talents， knowledge and techniques when handling various types of international affairs at home and abroad. It takes time and energy of all the participants concerned.

References：

[1]田尤佳.“ 一帶一路”背景下我國語言政策思考[J].中國校外教育，2015，（12）：438，461.