The China Business Daily writes about YesMeaning Co Ltd, a full-service translation company founded in 2002. Reading the article sounds like a description of any language service provider — it offers better service, listens to customer feedback, relies on the vast experience of its translators, boast well-known clients, and on and on. To be honest, we’ve seen articles like this before in the mainstream press in which a journalist discovers a bright, shiny object called “translation” and bases his story on what the company tells him. Except for details and customer names, you could pretty much substitute any LSP in the world for YesMeaning.

In fact, this story sounds just like the ones told by industry veterans about their initial ventures into the translation business. It even sounds like Gianni Davico’s discussion of the early days of the Italian translation industry in L’industria della traduzione: Realtà e prospettive del mercato italiano. Every LSP in a new market seems to think that its experience is unique, but it’s a story that is told over and over again because the basics are the same — service, quality, pricing, and scale are issues the world over.

But cynicism aside, two things stand out in the story: size and pricing. YesMeaning employs 3,000 people and has more than 20 offices on the mainland. This is the China factor that everybody talks about, vividly applied to the translation industry. By sheer number of employees, YesMeaning would be the second largest translation company in the world (note: we have not yet confirmed the number quoted in the article). On the pricing side, YesMeaning’s website indicates that final translations into Chinese are offered for US$0.04 per word. This could be a draw for other translation companies looking to outsource their Chinese work.

Over time, we should expect companies like YesMeaning to become less commodity-driven and to start picking and choosing clients. As the experience with LSPs in Eastern Europe and Latin America could predict, YesMeaning plans to offer services in China for foreigners doing business on the mainland. And like every company in a country hosting the Olympics, YesMeaning hopes to get some of that business. Even the franchise idea pops up here… YesMeaning — and probably the entire rapidly growing language industry in China — could really benefit from some industry history lessons and perspective that will help them avoid some rookie mistakes.
YesMeaning is at the right place at the right time. If its management team understands its role in the global marketplace and goes beyond the transactional aspect of the translation business, this company — and likely some other Chinese players — might be showing up in our Top 20 list sooner rather than later.