Official Standards
In People's Republic of China, the official guide for the transcription of people's names is the Names of the World's Peoples: a Comprehensive Dictionary of Names in Roman-Chinese (世界人名翻译大辞典), compiled by the Proper Names and Translation Service of the Xinhua News Agency. See the English transcription table further below in this article or those for a number of other languages that are provided by the work.
In the PRC most official transcriptions are based on Mandarin, the official language. A few transcriptions are not based on Mandarin, as they had been absorbed into Chinese before Mandarin was established as the official language.
In Singapore, the Translation Standardisation Committee for the Chinese Media is responsible for the transcription standard.
In the United States, Russia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia and other countries Foreign Ministries or other competent government agencies may set the official standards for transcribing names of entities under their jurisdiction into Chinese and other languages.
Cantonese media use different (and loose) transcription systems based on Cantonese.
Read more about this topic: Transliteration Into Chinese Characters
Famous quotes containing the words official and/or standards:
“There are few ironclad rules of diplomacy but to one there is no exception. When an official reports that talks were useful, it can safely be concluded that nothing was accomplished.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“Chief among our gains must be reckoned this possibility of choice, the recognition of many possible ways of life, where other civilizations have recognized only one. Where other civilizations give a satisfactory outlet to only one temperamental type, be he mystic or soldier, business man or artist, a civilization in which there are many standards offers a possibility of satisfactory adjustment to individuals of many different temperamental types, of diverse gifts and varying interests.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)