Sworn & certified translation
Chinese translation: sworn & certified
Chinese takes far more than word-for-word transfer: do you need Simplified or Traditional characters? Does the document come from mainland China, Taiwan or Hong Kong? How do you render a name where the surname comes first, with no spaces between characters?
At AFTraduction your Chinese ↔ French translation is produced by a court-sworn expert translator with a French court of appeal, with legal validity recognised by French and foreign authorities — and quality-reviewed by our in-house team. Here’s what matters, and how we handle it.
At a glance
Chinese in brief
Family
Chinese is an independent branch of the Sino-Tibetan family (its varieties are also called « Sinitic »).Comrie, The World’s Major Languages
Speakers
Over one billion people speak some form of Chinese — roughly a fifth of the world’s population.Comrie · Ethnologue
Variants
« Chinese » covers at least five major, mutually unintelligible groups — Mandarin (~70% of speakers), Wú (Shanghai), Mǐn (Fujian, Taiwan), Yuè including Cantonese and Hakka.Comrie
Standards
Mainland China’s official language is Pǔtōnghuà (« common speech ») ; Taiwan’s is Guóyǔ ; one of Singapore’s standards is Huáyǔ — all based on the Beijing variety but differing in vocabulary and grammar.Comrie
Script
A logographic system (characters, not an alphabet), alongside Pinyin romanisation, which also marks the tones. Chinese is an isolating language: little inflectional morphology, no marking of gender, number or tense on the word.Comrie
Where files get rejected
Why Chinese demands genuine expertise
This is where your file is accepted — or refused.
Simplified or Traditional — issue #1
Simplified characters are standard in mainland China and Singapore ; Traditional characters remain in use in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao. These are not two languages but two writing systems — a document must be handled in the right one or it looks inauthentic. We identify the origin and adapt.
Surname comes first
In Chinese the family name precedes the given name (王小明 = surname Wáng, given name Xiǎomíng). Mis-split across the « surname / first name » fields of a French record, the name becomes unrecognisable to officials. We map it correctly and apply Pinyin transliteration of names.
No spaces between words
Chinese is written with no separation between words: segmenting the text into meaningful units is part of the translation work and is decisive for accuracy (proper names, dates, amounts).
Notarised deeds and specific records
Many Chinese documents are notarised by a notary office (公证处, gōngzhèngchù) ; the hukou booklet (户口本, hùkǒuběn, the household residence register) is a common civil-status item. We know these templates and their terminology.
Layout (DTP) and seals
Characters, official red stamps, bilingual notarial certificates: our studio mirrors the source document faithfully.
Documents
Chinese documents we translate
From mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore and the diaspora. Tell us the country of origin and the intended use: we adapt terminology and layout to the national template.
Legalisation & apostille
By country
The procedure depends on the issuing country and the intended use; we check case by case.
Acceded to the Apostille Convention, in force for it on 7 November 2023.
Already covered by the Apostille Convention.
Already covered by the Apostille Convention.
Status as of 6/2026 (source: HCCH). Depending on the document and country, an apostille or consular legalisation may be required — we tell you the exact step before translating.
Chinese ↔ French translation, sworn or certified
When legal validity is required (OFII, prefectures, town halls, courts, universities), your Chinese ↔ French translation is entrusted to one of our expert translators sworn before a French court of appeal, who signs and certifies it (ne varietur).
When sworn status isn’t required, our agency certification is enough for many uses. Every file’s quality is overseen in-house by our team, for consistent reliability.
Your questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
Will my translated Chinese record be accepted by OFII and the prefecture?
Yes — produced by a court-sworn expert translator, with stamp, signature and ne varietur wording, it is accepted by all French authorities.
Do I need Simplified or Traditional Chinese?
It depends on origin: Simplified for mainland China and Singapore, Traditional for Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao. We identify the system before translating.
How do you handle names (surname first)?
We apply Pinyin transliteration and correctly map surname and given name to the French record’s fields, consistent with your passport.
My Chinese document is already notarised (公证处) — must you re-translate it?
We faithfully translate the notarial deed and its seal; any legalisation or apostille depends on the issuing country (apostille for mainland China since 7 November 2023).
What are the turnaround and price?
From €35/page, 2–5 business days, with a rush option available. Request a free quote — answer in under 2 hours.
Your file · our craft
Ready to translate your Chinese documents?
Free quote in 2 hours · Delivery in 2–5 days · Accepted by every authority.
Sources
Sources: Comrie (ed.), The World’s Major Languages (Routledge), ch. 42 “Chinese” (Li & Thompson) · Ethnologue (speaker data) · HCCH — Hague Apostille status. Original prose; data verified.