Translate a Commercial Contract into Simplified Chinese

What changes when a contract goes into Chinese

Chinese contracts name the parties differently. Mainland practice is to write 甲方 (Party A) and 乙方 (Party B), or to repeat the defined term. A definition such as “hereinafter referred to as ‘the Supplier’” becomes （以下简称“供应商”）: full-width brackets and quotation marks, with no spaces around them, like all Chinese punctuation (，。：；).

Chinese has no articles and no grammatical plural. “The Parties” becomes 双方 when there are two and 各方 when there are more, so reread any clause where the number matters. Modal verbs carry the legal weight: 应 or 应当 for “shall”, 不得 for “shall not”, 可以 for “may”. Mixing up obligation and permission changes what a clause binds.

Numbering has its own conventions too: “Clause 7” is written 第七条 or 第7条, and a cross-reference such as “subject to clause 7.2” must point to the same number in the Chinese text.

Amounts, dates and names: the risk areas

• Large numbers. Chinese counts in units of ten thousand: 1,000,000 is 100万. A slip of one unit is easy to miss, so compare every figure with the source.
• Amounts in words. Chinese contracts often repeat the sum in formal financial numerals, for example 人民币壹拾万元整 for RMB 100,000. If your original states amounts in words, check that both forms agree.
• Dates. The expected format is 2025年3月1日. A date like 03/01/2025 is ambiguous and must be read according to the convention of the original.
• Time limits. “30 business days” gives 30个工作日, “30 days” gives 30日; that distinction must survive translation.
• Company names. A Chinese company is identified by its registered Chinese name and its 18-character unified social credit code, not by an English trading name. Check that the name in the contract matches your counterparty’s business licence.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not

Your contract is handled by Thémis, Manuce’s legal engine. Upload a Word, PDF, RTF or plain-text file and it comes back in the same format, layout included: clauses, sub-clauses, schedule tables and the signature block stay where they were. A typical contract of around 5,000 words (14 pages) is delivered within minutes and kept in your client area.

What Manuce does not do:

• no sworn or certified translation: if an authority or court requires a translation certified by a sworn translator, you will need one;
• no scanned PDFs: a signed contract that has been scanned, with no selectable text, cannot be read;
• no Traditional Chinese under “Chinese”: for Taiwan or Hong Kong, order Traditional Chinese, which Manuce treats as a separate language.

A translation is not legal advice: whether a clause holds under Chinese law is for a lawyer to assess.

Preparing the file

• Upload the unsigned Word version rather than a PDF where you can: you will be able to edit the Chinese text and build a bilingual version if needed.
• Mind the fonts: a Latin font such as Times New Roman has no Chinese characters, so the text falls back to a substitute font that varies between computers. Chinese contracts are often set in 宋体 (SimSun); check how the file displays on your counterparty’s side.
• Allow for the seal: in China a company usually executes a contract by applying its seal (公章 or 合同专用章). Keep a （盖章） line and enough space in the signature block.
• Chinese text uses two to three times fewer characters, but each one is wider, so page length changes little without being identical. Make sure the signature page is not separated from the final clause.

Checking before signature

Before you pay, the free extract shows one paragraph of your contract translated at the level you chose. Pick a clause with a definition or a figure-based obligation: you will see how defined terms and modal verbs are rendered.

Once delivered, check first:

1. the governing-language clause: in a bilingual contract, wording such as 本合同以中文版本为准 makes the Chinese version prevail; settle this with your adviser, bearing in mind that Chinese courts work in Chinese;
2. amounts, currencies (人民币, 美元, 欧元) and dates;
3. party names and any terms that must stay as they are, such as a brand in Latin letters;
4. cross-references between clauses and schedules.

For a document that will be signed, have the Chinese version reviewed by a Chinese-speaking lawyer.

In practice

1. Export the contract as Word (or a PDF with selectable text) and confirm your counterparty’s registered Chinese name.
2. Upload the file and choose Simplified Chinese: the quote appears straight away, based on the exact word count.
3. Read the free extract, ideally a payment or obligation clause.
4. Pay, download the translated contract and check amounts, dates, seal block and governing-language clause.