In the golden autumn of 2018, Shanghai attracted the global attention. From November 5th to 10th, the first China International Import Expo was held at the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Shanghai). Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and related events.
China International Import Expo (CIIE), sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, aims to firmly support trade liberalization and economic globalization and actively open the market to the world. It attracted more than 1,000 exhibitors from the 58 countries along the land and maritime Silk Roads, becoming another important support for the “One Belt, One Road” initiative.
TalkingChina won the bid and became the “Recommended Translation Service Provider” of the first China International Import Expo, conscientiously providing service for the “remarkable” international event.
Two months before the opening of the Expo, TalkingChina had begun the preparations for the conference. In the past 16 years, we had been the interpretation provider for many national and world-class activities, such as the World Expo, Lawrence Awards Ceremony, Shanghai International Film Festival, etc., and we got started by analyzing the characteristics of the Expo and developing translation solutions.
The first characteristic of the Expo is it is a national level event which enjoys high profile and will be attended by the President of the State. Therefore, we only choose interpreters with good ability, consistent good performance and rich experience in interpreting for large-scale government activities.
The second characteristic of the Expo is that the exhibitors come from all over the world, especially some non-English-speaking countries, so there are many languages involved, and, as the “recommended translation service provider” of the Expo, we will receive a large amount of inquiries. Our solution is to provide a large number of translators for minor languages, and at the same time, strengthen the customer service staffing to answer all the inquiries from all over the world and provide flawless service.
With our careful preparation, from September 2018, translation service inquiries of exhibitors from nearly 20 countries including Peru, Ecuador, Portugal, Russia, Australia, Geneva, Argentina, Italy and Japan began to pour in. Sometimes, we were dealing with 10 inquiries at the same time. While answering the unceasing inquiries, we were also engaged in translator selection and training, logistics and other preparatory works, providing ready answers and good resources.
The third characteristic of the Expo is that receptionists need to be on-site to ensure timely response and solution to the exhibitor's translation needs. One week before the opening of the Expo, we went to the venue and elaborately arranged the service booth set up in the comprehensive service area of the South Registration Hall. We dispatched customer service specialists who were fluent in English to provide professional translation services for customers from all over the world.
The fourth characteristic of the Expo is its interpreting needs are various, which include conference simultaneous interpretation, conference consecutive interpretation, Business meeting interpretation and liaison Interpretation and are well within the competence of TalkingChina.
During the six-day Expo, we provided about 156 on-site business escort interpretation services, with 26 interpreters participated and the main languages being Chinese-English/Chinese-Japanese/Chinese-Russian. There were 7 large-scale conferences simultaneous interpretations, and 14 simultaneous interpreters of Chinese, English and Russian were involved. The professional services of TalkingChina were highly recognized by exhibitors and organizers.
The fifth characteristic of the Expo is it is of large scale, with a large number of exhibitors and strict security requirements. In this regard, our strategy is to make adequate preparation to get the entry permits, arrange registration and reviewing of each interpreters in advance and ensure the smooth proceeding of interpreting work.
On the first day, President Xi Jinping was present on the venue delivering speeches at the opening ceremony. Therefore, the number of people entering the venue was limited, and many people were stopped outside and could not enter. Thanks to our sufficient preparations, 30 staffs of TalkingChina were admitted on that day, and at 7:00 AM, our AEs was already on site to make sure the interpreters of the first day passed the security and found the exhibitor booths, ready to start the service of that day.
The sixth characteristic of the Expo is that there will be unexpected happenings which require timely and effective warning and emergency plans. On November 5th, there was a problem with the entry permit of an interpreter who was supposed to enter the venue on the 7th. We finally solved it by working overtime and waiting in several long lines. Finally, we got a new permit for the interpreter. During the Expo, there were still many such examples. Our on-site management experience of large-scale event interpreting projects has enabled us to handle all kinds of emergencies reliably.
The seventh characteristic of the Expo is that the venue is very large and requires field service personnel to be physically prepared. During 6 days of service, we had blistered feet, cramping calves and exhausted bodies, but seeing Expo turning into a success, for which we played a part, we felt sincerely proud!
Attached is a thank-you letter to TalkingChina:
