Translate terms and conditions of sale into Chinese (Simplified)

What Chinese changes in a set of terms of sale

Simplified Chinese has no spaces between words and uses full-width punctuation. A heading such as Clause 5: Delivery becomes 第五条：交货: clauses are numbered in the 第…条 form and the colon takes up a full character width.

• Dates: "1 March 2025" is written 2025年3月1日, largest unit first.
• No capital letters: limitation-of-liability clauses set in BLOCK CAPITALS, common in English-language terms, lose their emphasis. In Chinese, bold type does that job.
• Plurals: there is a single form. "1 day" and "30 days" are 1天 and 30天, so payment or cancellation periods need no agreement.
• Length: the text has two to three times fewer characters, but each is wider. The space taken changes little, so 8 pages stay roughly 8 pages.

A Latin font has no Chinese characters. A document set in Garamond or Arial needs a font that includes them, or empty boxes may appear on screen or in print.

Legal terms that need care

Terms of sale turn on a handful of words, and several Chinese terms look alike but behave very differently:

• 定金 versus 订金: 定金 is a legal earnest deposit — forfeited by a buyer who withdraws, refunded double by a seller who withdraws. 订金 or 预付款 is a plain advance payment. Mixing them up changes what the clause does.
• 违约金: liquidated damages or a contractual penalty, distinct from compensation for loss (损害赔偿).
• 不可抗力: force majeure; check that every event listed in your clause is carried over.
• 所有权保留: retention of title.
• 发票: in mainland China this means an official tax invoice. If your terms simply say "invoice", read the clause again to make sure it still matches how you actually bill.

The parties are usually 卖方 (seller) and 买方 (buyer). If your text uses a defined term such as "the Customer", the Chinese version should keep one consistent rendering throughout.

What Manuce returns, and what it does not do

Your terms go to Thémis, Manuce's legal specialist engine. Send Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF or CSV; you get the same file back in Simplified Chinese, with headings, clause numbering and tables in place. For a document of around 3,000 words, the translation is ready in minutes and stays available 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 adaptation to Chinese law: Thémis translates your clauses; it does not rewrite them to comply with the law of the People's Republic of China.
• No scanned PDFs: an image with no selectable text cannot be read.
• No Traditional Chinese on this page: for Taiwan or Hong Kong, choose Traditional Chinese, handled as a separate language.

For terms you will publish or have signed, the Professional or Premium level fits best; Essential is meant for understanding a text internally.

Preparing the file

1. Start from the source file: a Word document or a PDF exported from your word processor, not a scan of the signed copy.
2. Check the font: if your template uses a Latin typeface, plan a font with Chinese characters (SimSun or Microsoft YaHei, for instance) for the final version.
3. Add a language clause if both versions will circulate together, e.g. "In case of discrepancy, the English version prevails", which comes out along the lines of 如有歧义，以英文版本为准.
4. Your company's Chinese name: if you have an official one, keep it to hand. Manuce cannot guess it; your trading name will be kept or rendered depending on context, so check it in the output.
5. Use the free extract on your most sensitive paragraph — usually the deposit or liability clause — to judge the result before paying.

Reviewing the Chinese version before use

When reviewing, focus on what binds you:

• the deposit term (定金 or 订金) matches what you intend;
• cross-references follow the numbering: "see clause 7" should point to 第七条;
• the currency is explicit: 欧元 for euros, 英镑 for pounds, 美元 for dollars, 人民币 for renminbi;
• exclusion and limitation-of-liability clauses are in bold.

That last point is more than presentation. Article 496 of the Chinese Civil Code requires the party supplying standard terms (格式条款) to draw the other party's attention, in a reasonable way, to clauses that exclude or limit its liability. If your terms apply to customers in mainland China, have the final version checked by a lawyer familiar with Chinese law.

In practice

1. Export your terms as Word or text-based PDF (not a scan).
2. Upload the file and select Simplified Chinese and a level.
3. Read the free extract on the deposit or liability clause.
4. Download the translated file and check font, bold clauses and cross-references.
5. Have the final version reviewed by a lawyer if it targets mainland China.