In terms of film scripts and subtitle translations, Carter said young Chinese filmmakers are very conscientious about the importance of good translations and are willing to spend a great deal of time and effort making sure their subtitles are perfect.

"For this reason, many independent Chinese features and documentaries boast better subtitles than big-budget co-productions or films made through the state studio system," she said.

Quality control

Without proper guidance and supervision, the Chinese market of translation services has lapsed into disordered competition between agencies of varying sizes and backgrounds.

China Translation and Publishing Corp. (CTPC), which was established in 1979, is one of the country's earliest translation agencies with an outstanding reputation. Most other agencies were founded in late 1990s.

According to a survey of translation agencies in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Guangzhou by Beijing Language and Culture University in 2005, only 29 of 400 agencies in the capital had more than 100 part-time and full-time translators, while about 91 percent had less than 10. The percent was smaller in the other three cities.

The situation has scarcely changed in the past three years, according to TAC.

Jiang Xiaolin, Chairman of the official translation supplier for the Beijing Olympics, Beijing Yuanpei Century Translation Co. Ltd., said his firm's zero-mistake promise and sophisticated translation quality-control mechanisms distinguish it from smaller firms. Jiang's firm offers 24-hour workflow monitoring, a five-stage quality control system and a three-stage examination.

"Quality control should begin before a translator sits down to translate," Jiang said. "It's much easier than revising the final product."

Tougher supervision

The Translation Service Committee of the TAC was established in November 2002 to work out a series of standards and criteria for the industry. It has drafted criteria for translation and interpretation services and issued requirements for translation standards during the past several years.

It also has assessed the qualifications of nearly 100 translation agencies and granted them certificates of "Honest Services" since 2005. The committee has organized training courses based on industry standards for a dozen general managers of translation agencies nationwide in October 2006.

Still, many translation agencies have decided not to adopt TAC's tough standards.

"We don't use the standards for quality control TAC worked out because they are too general to be practicable," Jiang said. "TAC should and could play a more active role in regulating the industry."