China's Publishing Body Bans Use of Foreign Words in Media

China's Publishing Body Bans Use of Foreign Words in Media

Following a ban on the use of foreign words in TV in May, the Chinese government's publishing authority announced last week that it has banned the use of foreign words in Chinese newspapers, books and web sites, citing continued concern that the "purity" of the language remains in jeopardy.

Such practices "severely damaged the standard and purity of the Chinese language and disrupted the harmonious and healthy language and cultural environment, causing negative social impacts," the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) said on its web site.

"It is banned to mix at will foreign language phrases such as English words or abbreviations with Chinese publications, creating words of vague meaning that are not exactly Chinese or of any foreign language."

English abbreviations such as NBA (National Basketball Association), GDP (gross domestic product), CPI (consumer price index) and WTO (World Trade Organization) are frequently used in Chinese publications.

One editor at a Beijing publishing house told the China Daily that the new GAPP regulations could result in reduced understanding.

"The intention of protecting the Chinese language is good. But in an age of globalization, when some English acronyms like WTO have been widely accepted by readers, it might be too absolute to eliminate them," the editor said.

"Conversationally, people also use these words all the time, so the regulation could create discord between the oral and written uses of language."

In April, TV channels were told to stop using English acronyms like NBA which is translated into Chinese as: "Mei Guo Nan Zi Zhi Ye Lan Qiu Lian Sai."

One commentator responded to the ban in April with: "Ban English acronyms? Fine, don't call yourself CCTV anymore." CCTV, a.k.a. China Central Television, is China's biggest official TV service and displays its logo with four English-language letters on-screen.

The most recent notice generated a few choice responses as well.

"I suggest we get rid of Arabic numbers too, they're also foreign," one person said in the comment section of Netease.com.

GAPP said companies that violated the new regulations would face penalties. It also added that English terms could be used "if necessary," but must be followed by a direct translation of the abbreviation in Chinese.

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