Jun 12, 2020 13:56
4 yrs ago
16 viewers *
Chinese term

关于进一步加强塑料污染治理的意见

Chinese to English Law/Patents Environment & Ecology
I can't read Chinese, but based on the Japanese translation, I understand this says something like "Opinion on Further Strengthening Prevention of Plastic Pollution," but is there an official English translation? Should 意见 be translated "opinion," or is it something like "plan"?

Discussion

Zibow Retailleau Jun 13, 2020:
. Yes, we Chinese speakers who understand the government know what 意见 really means, but Casey, for example, whose native language is English, does not. It's not that 'guideline' is more natural but that 'opinion' is completely wrong. If it's the official translation, then it's officially incorrect.

I'm positive that there's a reason why they use 'opinion', a reason that is not related to linguistics.
Mina Chen Jun 13, 2020:
We all know it is a bunch of guidelines including the translators at 外文局/外交部(or whatever), I suppose. But perhaps there is a reason they chose the word "opinions" for "意见" . And it has been consistently done this way. "Guidelines" is the more natural word choice, I agree, but when there is already a Chinese official translation there, just use it, for consistency reasons.
jyuan_us Jun 13, 2020:
"guiding opinions" is a Chinglish term, which is used on websites in China only. 在英语中,这是一个搭配不当的表达,英语国家通常不会把之两个词放在一起说,因为这样搭配doesn't make sense。既然只是opinion,就谈不上guiding。
Zibow Retailleau Jun 13, 2020:
I read this《意见》 in Chinese. It is a set of guidelines. If 'opinion' is used here, I'll find it confusing. As for official translations, I often see some very awkward and bewildering ones. It makes me think that they are actually meant to be read by Chinese speakers.
Mina Chen Jun 12, 2020:
http://english.www.gov.cn/policies/policywatch/202 It seems a very faithful to source approach is adopted for the translation of Chinese official documents. Examples can be found on the government website. 意见 is usually rendered "opinions" and 指导意见,"guiding opinions". Like it or not, this is what they use.

"In January 2020, the NDRC and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment jointly issued opinions on further strengthening the treatment of plastic pollution in the face of new challenges..."
jyuan_us Jun 12, 2020:
This is a type of document issued by an authority to organizations under its supervision. Don't take it for its face value. It is just a fancy way of saying "order". "opinion" is just a literal conversion, which doesn't really carry the correct meaning of the term.

Proposed translations

+1
16 mins
Selected

Instruction/guideline

it literally means "input, idea, suggestion,' but it is usually taken as an instruction/guideline by the recipients.

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Note added at 22 hrs (2020-06-13 12:01:04 GMT)
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"Guidelines on Furthering the Efforts To Curb Plastic Pollution"
Peer comment(s):

agree Zibow Retailleau
21 hrs
Thanks Zibow.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "It feels weird to select an answer when I don’t speak the language, but this does seem to be the consensus, and it was the first answer. Thanks, everyone."
22 mins

Opinion on Further Strengthening the Control of Plastic Pollution

In the Chinese context, an opinion is an official document in which the government/administrative bodies and organizations provide opinions and approaches to important issues. Other examples include:Implementation Opinions on Deepening the Reform of Institutional Mechanism for Talent Development to Facilitate Innovation and Entrepreneurship
(Released in July, 2015)
中共上海市委办公厅上海市人民政府办公厅 印发《关于深化人才工作体制机制改革促进人才创新创业的实施意见》
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1 hr

Regarding the opinions on further strengthening the treatment of plastic pollution.

关于: Regarding; With regards to; Concerning; About ...

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Note added at 1 hr (2020-06-12 15:34:12 GMT)
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治理: treatment; control; management ...
Peer comment(s):

neutral jyuan_us : you "misplaced" the preposition of "regarding," which should be in the place of "on."
20 hrs
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3 hrs

Opinions

The document probably has a long list of "opinions", so should be plural.
"意见“ simply means opinion, suggestion, view. But seems "opinion" is the favored word in many official and academic documents.
If you search the referenced document for "意见“, you will see they are all rendered "opinions".
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18 hrs

(Official) guideline(s) on further strengthening the treatment of plastic pollution.

意见, which literally means opinion/suggestion, is used in official/government documents in the People's Republic of China. It rather should be translated as (official) guideline(s) on...
关于...的意见 (guideline(s) on...).
进一步加强... (further strengthening...).
塑料污染 (plastic pollution).
治理 (treatment).
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