L2 Chinese-to-Spanish Professional Translation in China. A Study based on Job Advert and Survey Analysis

L2 translation has a long history in China. Following economic reforms in the late 1970s, the country’s government encouraged translation into foreign languages in specialized fields. Nonetheless, there are very few studies of L2 translation in China, and fewer still of specialized L2 translation. This article presents a descriptive study of L2 profesional translation in China’s translation market, based on data from two sources: (1) job adverts for Chinese-to-Spanish translators; and (2) a survey of translation companies that work with Spanish in China. The results show that there is a large volume of L2 Chinese-to-Spanish translation, encompassing a wide variety of areas of specialization, a key one of which is scientific and technical translation.