The Chinese economy has undergone a dramatic transformation in the last 25 years. This has opened up new markets and business opportunities for entrepreneurs from all over the world. But to take advantage of these opportunities, every non-Chinese company, both large and small, must overcome the challenge of language. English to Chinese translation services can help your company get an edge on the competition.

The old Communist China of the 1950's was what was called a controlled economy. (This system is also called a planned or command economy.) This means that all means of production were owned by the state and that individual enterprises were regulated and controlled in order to meet targets and quotas made by the central communist leaders. Under this system, all production, prices and distribution methods were strictly controlled.

In the late seventies the Chinese government began to revise this controlled economy system and began to introduce a series of economic and monetary reforms which were designed to move towards a more market economy. This led to a lessening of some of the restrictions on foreign investment and saw foreign companies, including some from the United States, begin to test the business waters in China. Despite the Chinese governments? attempts to limit this expansion, pretty soon the Chinese economy was starting to boom.

During the eighties, the Chinese economy grew by almost 10 percent a year and this pace has continued until today. In 2004, China's Gross Domestic Product was $1,931.7 billion, and with a population of over one billion people, China's economic miracle is expected to grow and multiply for many years to come.

This has opened up the door for foreign investment and the possibility to sell to a brand new market comprised of Chinese who have not yet been exposed to many of the goods and services available in the West. But barriers do exist to companies doing business in China and any successful business enterprises must learn to overcome them in order to gain a foothold in this emerging marketplace.

The most challenging thing to overcome is the question of English to Chinese translation. Since very few Chinese speak English and most North American companies have little capacity to either speak or translate into Chinese, there is no way to market, advertise or sell to this marketplace. Luckily for American businesses wanting to do business in China, there are a number of qualified companies who offer both Chinese to English and English to Chinese translation services.

This allows American companies to speak and understand Chinese, but more importantly, these Chinese translation services allow the one billion potential customers in China to learn more abou,t and to buy, American goods and services. A professional translation services provider can open the door to China and allow American businesses access to the hottest economy on earth.