The venues and themes of previous congresses are as follows:
| No. | Time | Venue | Theme | 
| 1 | 1954 | Paris (France) |   | 
| 2 | 1956 | Rome (Italy) | Copyright as it applies to translators; Collaboration by translators in improving technical terminology | 
| 3 | 1959 | Bad Godesberg (Germany) | Quality in Translation | 
| 4 | 1963 | Dubrovnik (Croatia) | Ten Years of Translation | 
| 5 | 1966 | Lahti(Finland) | Translation -- An Art and a Profession | 
| 6 | 1970 | Stuttgart (Germany) | Translation -- A Bond between Nations | 
| 7 | 1974 | Nice (France) | Translation Connecting Nations | 
| 8 | 1977 | Montreal (Canada) | Translating -- A Profession | 
| 9 | 1981 | Warsaw (Poland) | The Mission of the Translators Today and Tomorrow | 
| 10 | 1984 | Vienna (Austria) | Translators and their position in society | 
| 11 | 1987 | Maastricht (Netherlands) | Translation, our Future | 
| 12 | 1990 | Belgrade (Yugoslavia) | Translation, a Creative profession | 
| 13 | 1993 | Brighton (Britain) | Translation, the Vital Link | 
| 14 | 1996 | Melbourne (Australia) | New Horizons | 
| 15 | 1999 | Mons (Belgium) | Transition- Translation | 
| 16 | 2002 | Vancouver (Canada) | Translation: New Ideas for a New Century | 
| 17 | 2005 | Tampere (Finland) | Translation and Human Rights | 
(China.org.cn June 2, 2008)