The 18th World Congress of International Federation of Translators (FIT) will be held in Shanghai from August 2 to 7, FIT Vice-President Huang Youyi said in Beijing on Wednesday.

To date, about 500 representatives from 68 countries have signed up for the congress and the United Nations and the European Union will also send representatives.

"China's successful bid for the congress shows FIT's recognition of China's development in the translation industry. This is an important opportunity to demonstrate China's image and strengthen its soft power (cultural competitiveness of a nation)," Huang said.

FIT, the world's most authorized organization for translators, holds its congress every three years. This is the first FIT congress to be held in Asia.

China has about 35,000 professional translators and more than 3,000 companies providing such a service. The country's annual output value for translation reached almost 30 billion yuan (4.3 billion US dollar) last year.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2008)