Interpreting models in PRC

The aim of this thesis is to outline the development and current situation of the interpreting profession in China. It places particular emphasis on interpreter training at chinese universities, interpreters accreditations, professional organizations and the formation of interpreting theory and training as an autonomous discipline. The beginnings of the conference interpreting profession in China date back to 1979, when the UN Training Programme for Interpreters and Translators was launched. In 1994 this programme was transformed into the Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, which became the first interpreter training institution in China. In 2006 the first three universities launched a BA in Translation and Interpreting (BTI). In 2007 fifteen universities started offering anew Master's programme in Translation and Interpreting (MTI). Currently, the number of universities offering BTI has more than doubled and the number of universities offering MTI has reached 150. Several universities offer also PhD programmes in interpreting studies. Interpreting studies are gradually developing into an autonomous discipline in China and monographs of representative Chinese researchers, e.g. Liu Heping, Bao Gang or Wang Binhua, attest to it. Most of Chinese..