This working aid includes recommendations on the translation of key Chinese terms related to the “ends, ways, and means” of Digital China. Western analysis on the Digital China strategy has suffered from inconsistent English-language translation, as well as improvised and inconsistent technical/theoretical terms and acronyms, across the entire scope of the strategy’s “ends, ways, and means.” This working aid is my small attempt to begin a fix. Questions, comments, additions, and corrections are welcome! Please contact me at digitalchinawinsthefuture@gmail.com
数字中国建设整体布局规划: Literally “plan for the overall layout of digital China construction” but translated contextually on this blog as “Plan for the Global Layout of Digital China Construction,” unless directly quoting from other sources. The term “整体布局” is the focal point of the new plan’s title and could be translated literally (and accurately) several different ways including comprehensive, holistic, or overall layout. I translate “整体布局” contextually as “global layout” to better capture the intent of the new plan for English readers. Although a less common translation, “global” highlights that a key purpose of the new plan (and perhaps the key purpose) is to formally incorporate the party’s concept of “global digital development” (全球数字发展) into the top-level design of the Digital China strategy. An alternative translation of “整体” is “holistic” which is used in one unofficial PRC translation of the new plan. Interestingly, as used in the new Digital China plan, “整体” finds its conceptual roots in Xi Jinping’s political work report to the 19th Party Congress in 2017 where its official PRC translation is “holistic.” This made “holistic” a tempting choice, as I generally prefer the (or a potential) official translation to better support English language research and analysis, but I still chose context over official in this case. A popular U.S. translation of “整体” in the plan’s title is “overall.” Since Digital China has been an “overall” (总体) strategy since at least 2020 (and remains so), I wanted to distinguish the existing strategy from the new plan by using different words in English (overall and global) for different words in Chinese (总体 and 整体), particularly since both pairs are commonly linked to Digital China’s top-level design.
数字中国: Literally "digital China" but translated as "Digital China" on this blog, unless quoting directly from other sources. Despite the importance of this term in party theory, there is no standard English-language translation for "数字中国," including by PRC state-run media. Digital China has been described in Western writing as a "vague" term or treated as a meme, contributing to inconsistent analysis, and resulting in its most common English-language translation as "digital China." Digital China is a Communist Party strategic initiative (since 2012) and a national-level strategy (since 2017). Adopting standard practice in the West on capitalizing national-level strategies, I use "Digital China" on this blog as the most meaningful English descriptor of this Chinese term, except when directly quoting from other sources.
强国: Literally "strong country" but translated as "great power" on this blog, unless quoting directly from other sources. Despite the importance of this term in party theory, there is no standard English language translation for "强国," including by PRC state-run media. "强国" is routinely translated in Western writing as "superpower" (there is a different, standard Chinese term for superpower) and "powerhouse" (too informal for a theoretical term and there is also a different, standard Chinese term for powerhouse). I use “great power,” or by context simply "power," to translate "强国" on this blog except when directly quoting from other sources. This translation best reflects the formality, meaning, and wider usage of “great power” (强国; shortened form of 强大国家) in the party’s strategy lexicon, and to ensure consistent translation of a party term-of-art. In addition, standardizing the translation "强国" has become increasingly important as PRC theorists begin to describe "great power transition" (from major power to great power). In cases where the term "great power" is linked to the formal name of a national strategy, such as "Cyber Great Power," I adopt standard practice in the West regarding national strategies and capitalize the term "Great Power."
社会主义现代化强国: Literally "socialist modern strong country" but translated as "Modernized Socialist Great Power" on this blog, unless quoting directly from other sources. Despite the importance of this term in party theory, there is no standard English language translation for "社会主义现代化强国," including by PRC state-run media. Although neither “modern” nor “modernized” adequately convey in English the deeper theoretical implications of “现代化” in the context of national informatization, I adopt “modernized” on this blog as the closer fit. Adapting the full term to standard English, I use the irregular translations “Modernized Socialist Great Power” (社会主义现代化强国) and “modernized socialist country" (社会主义现代化国家), except when directly quoting from other sources. Use of "Modernized Socialist Great Power" ensures consistent use of "强国" on this blog. The full term is capitalized both to signify the end state for a grand strategy and to highlight its formality in party discourse. The official PRC translation of "社会主义现代化国家" is "modern (not modernized) socialist country." Although I try to use the official PRC translation of terms to facilitate research and analysis in English, as stated above translating "现代化" as "modernized" better expresses the theoretical implications of the term in the context of national informatization.