Introduction to CATTI International

I. Review

Translation and interpretation (T&I) has now become an important medium of international exchanges amid the further development of globalization. Based on the fact that CATTI (Level 1-3) has been successfully held overseas, CATTI Management Center, joined by more than 30 colleges and universities at home and abroad, along with the international schools, Chinese language and culture centers, has launched Chinese Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters，International (CATTI International) for the purpose of improving the current talent training system and selecting more talents to promote China’s foreign exchanges.
CATTI International, consisting of such bilingual language proficiency tests as Chinese-English, Chinese-Russian, Chinese-Japanese, Chinese-Korean and Chinese-Thai, serves as a supplement and extension of the current CATTI test system. The test is open to candidates worldwide including those in China. With a coverage of the largest number of translators and interpreters, this test mainly focuses on assessing the bilingual ability of people like translators and interpreters and translators for routine affairs, personnel doing business relating to China and practice-oriented personnel of foreign languages. It also plays the role of assessing the teaching effect of the practice-oriented universities of foreign languages and international schools. It can meet the needs for the language proficiency test in various industries both at home and abroad. In addition, CATTI International provides services for testing the ability of bilingual language application in the area of professional title promotion and personnel selection for overseas studies.
Considering that COVID-19 pandemic is under regular prevention and control, CATTI International can be taken via multiple modes like Internet-based test at home, Lan-based test and paper-based test.

II. Target Candidates
Candidates of CATTI International mainly include,
1. Chinese and foreign translators and interpreters for routine affairs as well as personnel doing foreign businesses relating to China in the area of non-professional translators and interpreters, language workers for common business talks and exchanges, foreign tourism, medical services, hospitality and airline industries;
2. Lovers of Chinese culture in foreign countries, overseas translators and interpreters in Chinese, and foreigners abroad doing business relating to China;
3. Students from domestic practice-oriented universities of foreign languages, outstanding students from international high schools, students in need of studying abroad;
4. People of Chinese enterprises doing international businesses, people of Chinese enterprises in need of working abroad; personnel of non-translation industries in need of language proficiency test in professional title review and job promotion.

III. Grading
The test consists of two parts, interpretation and translation, with a total of 200 points. Five different grades of ABCDE are divided based on the total score and scores of each part:
Grade A: 165-200 points and both parts at least 80% of the full marks of each part.
Grade B: 145-164 points and both parts at least 70% of the full marks of each part.
Grade C: 120-144 points and both parts at least 60% of the full marks of each part.
Grade D: 90-119 points.
Grade E: 60-89 points.

IV. Grading Requirements
1. Grade A
Certificate holders of Grade A should be able,
To have a relatively solid foundation in language and a better bilingual ability both in Chinese and English;
To master more than 4,500 English words and over 3,000 Chinese characters;
To be familiar with the daily communications between China and English-speaking countries and regions;
To accurately understand source materials in different industries, and especially have a comprehensive understanding of the materials in his or her own field;
To quickly grasp the key points of source materials, and understand the implications of source materials so as to convey the message between Chinese and English in a relatively accurate and fluent manner;
To have the T&I ability equivalent to the ability required for CATTI level 3.

2. Grade B
Certificate holders of Grade B should be able,
To have a relatively solid foundation in language and a better bilingual ability both in Chinese and English;
To master more than 4,000 English words and over 2,000 Chinese characters;
To be familiar with the settings of daily communications between China and English-speaking countries and regions;
To accurately understand source materials in relevant industries, and especially have an overall and deep understanding of the materials in his or her own field;
To quickly grasp the points of view of the materials, and understand the implied meanings of the materials, judge the intention and distinguish the facts of the materials so to accurately convey messages by translating or interpreting between English and Chinese more accurately and fluently in the fields that he/she is engaged in or familiar with;
To have the T&I ability close to the ability required for CATTI level 3.

3. Grade C
Certificate holders of Grade C should be able,
To have a better foundation in language and the basic bilingual ability both in Chinese and English;
To master more than 3,500 English words and over 1,500 Chinese characters;
To be familiar with the settings of daily communications between China and English-speaking countries and regions;
To accurately understand source materials in relevant industries, and be familiar with the materials in his or her own field;
To grasp the points of view of the materials, and judge the intention of the materials so to accurately convey messages by doing simple translations or interpretations in an accurate and fluent manner between English and Chinese in the field of his/her own, or in common social occasions.

4. Grade D
Certificate holders of Grade D should be able,
To have a basic foundation in language and the preliminary bilingual ability both in Chinese and English;
To master more than 2,500 English words and over 1,500 Chinese characters;
To be familiar with the source materials in his or her own field;
To grasp the key information of the materials, and be able to do simple and daily translations or interpretations between English and Chinese in the field that he or she is familiar with or in common social occasions.

5. Grade E
Certificate holders of Grade E should be able,
To have certain foundation in language;
To master more than 2,000 English words and over 500 common Chinese characters;
To make simple daily communication with others in common social occasions and undertake simple Chinese-English translation and interpretation with the help of translating tools.

V. Job Suggestions Corresponding to Grades
1. Grade A
The Grade A certificate recipient is suitable for doing more formal translations in the institutions or enterprises focusing much more on dealing with businesses relating to China. He/she can be engaged in relatively formal translations or interpretations in negotiations, conferences, accompanying interpretations, written translations and secretarial work.
2. Grade B
The Grade B certificate recipient is suitable for doing relatively formal translations in government departments, institutions and enterprises focusing much more on dealing with businesses relating to China. He/she can get engaged with relatively formal translations or interpretations for conferences, accompanying interpretations, written translations and email exchanges. It is suggested that he/she work in such industries that bilingual translation and interpretation abilities are necessary as aviation, customs, public services, catering, tourism, hotel services.
3. Grade C
The Grade C certificate recipient is suitable for doing simple translations in government departments, institutions and enterprises focusing much more on dealing with businesses relating to China. He/she can get engaged with relatively simple translations or interpretations for conferences, accompanying interpretations and others. It is suggested that he/she work in such industries that bilingual translation and interpretation abilities are necessary in public services, hospitality industry and tourism. He/she is able to live a daily life in countries where Chinese or English is necessary.
4. Grade D
The Grade D certificate recipient is suitable for doing simple daily translations and accompanying interpretations, etc. He/she can work in such industries in need of general bilingual ability of translation and interpretation as public services, catering, tourism and hotel services. Grade D can also be regarded as a reference of language proficiency in case of non-translation professional title promotion and going abroad. With the help of translation tools, he/she can live a daily life in countries where Chinese or English is needed.
5. Grade E
The Grade E certificate recipient is suitable for doing much simple Chinese-English translations and interpretations in industries such as public services, catering, tourism and hotel services. With the help of translation tools, he/she is able to make tourist travels or business trips in countries where Chinese or English is needed.

VI. Committee of Experts
CATTI International has formed the committee of experts mainly in charge of preparing and grading the examination papers. Currently, Chen Mingming serves as the director of the expert committee, along with Wang Weimin and Qiu Ming as the associate directors. The committee consists of 20 authoritative experts in the industry of translation and interpretation both at home and abroad.
Huang Youyi: chief advisor of CATTI International, director of CATTI English Expert Committee, director of National Senior Professional Titles (T&I) Evaluation Committee, director of National Committee for MTI Teaching Guidance, executive vice chairman of the Translators Association of China, former deputy director and editor in chief of CIPG.
Chen Mingming: associate director of CATTI English Expert Committee, associate director of National Senior Professional Titles (T&I) Evaluation Committee, executive vice chairman of the Translators Association of China, ex-ambassador to foreign countries, and former director of the Department of Translation and Interpretation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Wang Weimin: professor of translation, member of CATTI English Expert Committee, member of National Senior Professional Titles (T&I) Evaluation Committee.
Qiu Ming: associate director of CATTI Japanese Expert Committee, director of National Committee of MTI Japanese Teaching Guidance, vice-chairman of Translation Association of China, vice president of Jilin International Studies University, former vice president of Beijing International Studies University, former dean of Beijing Institute of Intercultural Communication.

VII. Organizer
CATTI International is organized by CATTI Project Management Center of China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, joined by over 30 prestigious universities at home and abroad, international schools and Chinese language and culture centers.

VIII. Mode and Registration
CATTI can be taken in forms of paper-based test, Lan-based test and Internet-based test at home. All candidates need to register on www.catticenter.com.
The test for 2020 will be conducted via Internet test and taken at home in response to COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control.

VIIII. Languages of the Test
In 2020, only English test is available. The test for other foreign languages such as Japanese, Korean, Russian, Thai, Malaysian are expected to be held in the years to come.

X. Composition of the exam paper
Full mark: 200 points
Test time: 150 minutes
Divided into 2 separate test parts, namely translation and interpretation, including listening comprehension, interpretation and translation.
The exam paper is divided into overseas edition and domestic edition.

XI. Validity
CATTI is an employment-oriented certificate, essential for recruiting common translators and interpreters by many enterprises and institutions both at home and abroad. It is also a must for doing businesses relating to China in the area of tourism, catering, public services, aviation and business negotiations. In some countries, CATTI certificate is even considered as a job license.

CATTI is a certificate for further education and promotion. In China, it is regarded as a prime reference for admitting students from junior college to university, and admitting postgraduate students. It’s an important reference for proving the ability in Chinese of those in professional title promotion and the foreign language ability of those to be selected for further studies abroad. CATTI certificate is also essential for some foreign universities to admit Chinese students.

CATTI is also a test available for middle school students. It’s currently the only global test of foreign language proficiency open to middle school students organized by authorities relating to the foreign language industry.

来源：CATTI中心日期：2020年10月22日

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