On November 23, 2024, the Awarding Ceremony for the 36th Han Suyin International Translation Contest and the Symposium on “Translation as a Bridge for Civilizational Exchange” was held in Beijing. The event was supervised by the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration (CFLPA) and hosted by the Translators Association of China (TAC) and the China Academy of Translation (CAT). Vice President Cai and Liu Qin, Dean of the College of Foreign Languages (CFL), led a delegation to the event.
During the opening ceremony, Mr. Mao Mengxi, Minister of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD), read out a letter of congratulations written by Mr. Zhu Yongxin, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Executive Vice Chairman of CAPD. Du Zhanyuan, Standing Committee Member of CPPCC, Director of CFLPA, and President of TAC, delivered a speech emphasizing translation’s critical role in promoting China’s international communications.
This year, 1,230 award winners were honored from 43,000 plus participants. Notably, two of them were USST-ers. Ge Jiayu, a 2021 class undergraduate from the Department of English (Sino-US Joint Program), won the Third Prize in English-to-Chinese Translation and Cong Tingting, a faculty member at the Department of German, received an Excellence Award in German-to-Chinese Translation.
During the ceremony, Vice President Cai accepted a plaque designating USST as a partner in the Joint Sci-Tech Translation Talent Development Program with CAT. Dean Liu signed the cooperation agreement on behalf of CFL. Yu Yunquan, Deputy Director of CFLPA and President of the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies (ACCWS), and Wang Xiaohui, Editor-in-Chief of China.org.cn, Vice President of TAC, and Vice President of CAT, pledged to deepen collaboration with USST in sci-tech translation talent cultivation and research.
The Plaque Awarding Ceremony of Joint Program
The Signing Ceremony
During the event, Dean Liu attended the panel discussion on the topic of “Translation and Talent Cultivation for Civilization Dialogue and Mutual Learning”. She shared USST’s achievements in translation education in AI-era, such as the translation projects of the National Social Science Fund of China (NSSFC), the publication of the Public Diplomacy Translation Series as well as the reform of translation talent development models to meet evolving industry demands.
Panel Discussion
The event strengthened USST’s partnerships with CAT, ACCWS, and TAC, while fostering ties with Beijing-based institutions. These collaborations will provide future strategies for USST in its disciplinary innovation and talent cultivation in translation studies.
2024 Annual Conference & 40th Anniversary Celebration of Shanghai Science and Technology Translation Society (SSTTS) were held at the College of Foreign Languages (CFL)
AI empowers sci-tech Translation, Driving Disciplinary Transformation. Carrying Forward the Tradition of Humanities-STEM Integration to Forge Innovative Pathways. On March 8, 2025, hosted by SSTTS and co-organized by CFL, the “2024 Annual Conference & 40th Anniversary Celebration of SSTTS” were held in the auditorium of the CFL. The event brought together approximately 200 guests, including Cai Yonglian, Vice President of USST; Su Qi, director of the Shanghai Association for Science and Technology (SAST); and Huang Youyi, Executive Vice President of the Translators Association of China (TAC).
Presided over by professor Liu Qin, Dean of CFL and Vice President of SSTTS, the opening ceremony commenced with a welcome to all attendees. Vice President Cai delivered the welcome address, highlighting USST’s multidisciplinary development and its longstanding commitment to translation talent cultivation, academic research, and societal engagement. She congratulated SSTTS on its 40th anniversary and urged the experts present to leverage translation in addressing national strategic priorities and advancing Shanghai’s global aspirations to turbocharge the innovative development of sci-tech translation and translation technologies.
Speech by Vice President Cai
On behalf of the SAST, Su Qi extolled the Shanghai Journal of Translators of SSTTS for its pioneering spirit and role as a leading platform in applied translation studies. He praised SSTTS for trimming its sails to the wind of generative AI technologies.
Speech by Su Qi
Professor Fang Mengzhi (6th president of SSTTS) walked the audience along the association’s four-decade development, and Zou Biao (7th president of SSTTS) emphasized the association’s alignment with national development and academic innovation. Incumbent President Hu Kaibao outlined future priorities, such as AI-driven translation education, historical research on Shanghai’s sci-tech translation, and university-industry collaboration.
Speech by Fang Mengzhi
Speech by Zuo Biao
Speech by Hu Kaibao
Leaders and researchers from translators association of Hebei, Zhejiang, and Shanghai spoke highly of SSTTS’s contributions in sci-tech translation, academic exchange, international communications and talent cultivation and offered some suggestions in such fields as regional coordination, innovative disciplines and national strategies. Congratulatory letters from the Translators Association of China (TAC) and other academic organizations commended SSTTS’s academic leadership and industry-standard initiatives.
Speech by Li Zhengshuan
Speech by Guo Guoliang
Speech by Chen Changlai
Zhu Yifan’s Reading of Letters of Congratulations
Liu Qin, The Opening Ceremony Moderator
During the awarding ceremony, Professor He Gangqiang (8th and 9th SSTTS’s President) was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award, 11 practitioners and 2 institutions with Special Contribution Awards, and 15 professionals with Outstanding Sci-Tech Translators. Notably, Prof. Wu Biyu and Prof. Liu Qin received Special Contribution Awards, while Prof. Chen Qi and Prof. Yang Benming were recognized as Outstanding Sci-Tech Translators, marking USST as the top-awarded institution.
Recipients of Special Contribution Awards: Wu Biyu (fourth from the left) and Liu Qin (third from the left)
Recipients of Outstanding Sci-Tech Translators: Chen Qi (second from the left) and Yang Benming (on the far left)
The Keynote Speeches were presided over by Han Ziman (Secretary-General of SSTTS). Huang Youyi emphasized the growing global demand for specialized sci-tech translation and the elevation of translation practices as a high-end profession through AI integration. Liu Junping (President of Translators Association of Hubei, TAHB and Professor of Wuhan University) advocated interdisciplinary methodologies in translation historiography to foster theoretical innovation. Fu Jingmin (Editor-in-Chief of the Shanghai Journal of Translators and Professor of Shanghai University) analyzed trends and challenges in China’s translation research, calling for better adaptability in AI-era. Industry representatives Wu Xin (General Manager of Lindge Co., Ltd) and Hong Ximei (Partner of Shanghai YGYM Translation Service Co., Ltd) briefed the AI’s role in translation project management and talent development.
Speech by Huang Youyi
Speech by Liu Junping
Speech by Fu Jingmin
Speech by Wu Xin
Speech by Hong Ximei
The annual meeting session was chaired by Deputy Secretary General Guan Xinchao. President Hu Kaibao presented the 2024 work report, highlighting achievements in “translation talent cultivation in the big data era” and outlining 2025 plans for major projects, talent development, and sci-tech translation and research. Secretary-General Han Ziman delivered the 2024 budget report, followed by unanimous votes of new nominees.
Budget Report by Han Ziman
In closing remarks, He Gangqiang acknowledged the council’s accomplishments and then urged SSTTS’s members to establish regular forums for young scholars to address AI-driven challenges in translation.
Closing Remark by He Gangqiang
Guan Xinchao, the Annual Meeting Session Moderator
Group photo of Leaders
Before the conference, attendees paid a visit to the renovated CFL’s building. They were deeply impressed and believed that the new building would serve as a platform to cultivate linguistically skilled and innovation-ready professionals.
Pre-meeting Group Photo
This conference not only reviewed SSTTS’s four-decade development but also marked a new chapter for sci-tech translation in the AI era. The CFL pledges to deepen collaboration with SSTTS, to optimize disciplinary structures, and to leverage translation in order to serve major national projects and programs, thereby cultivating cohorts of accomplished translators and enhancing the international clout of China’s sci-tech translation.
