1. Introduction to Asia & Asian Languages
Noel Narciso
Head of Sales, APAC
Basel | Beijing | Chiasso | Copenhagen | Frankfurt | Hong Kong | Lausanne | London | Madrid
Moncton | Montreal | New York | Ottawa | Paris | Quebec | Shanghai | Singapore | Toronto | Zurich
1

2. Objective
Understanding of key markets in Asia
Provide context to key languages that make up most of our business
| Noel Narciso 2

3. Asia Overview
 Represents 30% of total global land area
 Home to 3.9B people, approx. 60% of the world’s population
 48 countries
 Over 2,000 languages
 4 CLS offices
| Noel Narciso 3

4. Singapore
| Noel Narciso 4

5. Singapore
 Independent Republic and Southeast Asian city-state
 Ranked 4th in Global Financial Centres Index, 2nd in WEF Competitiveness Index
 Busy trading port
 British colony since 1820s, part of Malaysia 1963-65; 1965 – gained independence
 710 sq. kms. – one of the smallest countries in the world
 Name derived from Sanskrit “Singapura” which means “Lion City”
 Current population of 5M people with 37% transient
 Ethnicity of balance 63% – Chinese (majority), Malay (20%), Indian (10%), Eurasian
 Official languages: English, Mandarin, Basaha Malayu, Tamil, (spoken Chinese dialects)
 Gateway to Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.)
 Most SEA countries have a large Chinese population owing to a diaspora in the 19th
century of Southern Chinese, establishing Hokkien as the prevalent Chinese dialect
there
 Flying time: 4 hrs to Hong Kong, 6 hrs to Shanghai, 7.5 hrs to Beijing, 12 hrs to Zurich,
18 hrs to NY
| Noel Narciso 5

6. Singapore
CLS Singapore office highlights
 Key Client Sectors: Banking & Finance, Life Science, Government
 Focus Languages: English into Chinese Simplified,
Japanese, Korean, South East Asia languages
http://www.cls-communication.com/en/contact/singapore
| Noel Narciso 6

7. Hong Kong , 香港 (Mandarin, Xiānggǎng), 香港 (Cantonese, Hēunggóng)
| Noel Narciso 7

8. Hong Kong , 香港 (Mandarin, Xiānggǎng), 香港 (Cantonese, Hēunggóng)
 One of two Special Administrative Regions of the Peoples’ Republic of China
 Ranked 3rd in Global Financial Centres Index
 Name means “Fragrant Harbour”; HK was always a natural harbour having
coastlines with deep enough water for ships to dock and trade
 1842 – became a Crown Colony; consequence of losing the first Opium War
 1997 – became part of PRC
 1,054 sq. kms. in land area
 Current population of 7.7M people with 8.5% transient
 Ethnicity of balance 91.5% – Chinese (majority)
 Official languages: English, Cantonese and (increasingly Mandarin)
 In the late 1980‘s and early 1990‘s, there was widespread apprehension about
the effect of the impending 1997 handover to PRC; many HK residents
migrated to other countries like Canada and Australia
 Gateway to China
 Flying time: 4 hrs to SG, 2 hrs to Shanghai, 4 hrs to Beijing, 12 hrs to Zurich,
13 hrs to London, 18 hrs to NY
| Noel Narciso 8

9. Hong Kong , 香港 (Mandarin, Xiānggǎng), 香港 (Cantonese, Hēunggóng)
CLS Hong Kong Highlights
 Key Client Sectors: Banking & Finance, Media, Consumer Retail
 Focus Languages: English into Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional
Hong Kong, Korean, Japanese
http://www.cls-communication.com/en/contact/hong-kong
| Noel Narciso 9

10. Shanghai
| Noel Narciso 10

11. Shanghai (上海)
 Current population of 23M people
 Largest city by population in the PRC and the largest city proper by population
in the world
 Financial center of China; Ranked 8th in Global Financial Centres Index
 Ethnicity – Chinese
 Official languages: Mandarin, (Shanghainese widely spoken)
 Flying time: 6 hrs to SG, 2 hrs to HK, 2 hrs to Beijing, 11 hrs to Zurich, 12 hrs
to London, 18 hrs to NY
| Noel Narciso 11

12. Shanghai (上海)
CLS Shanghai office highlights
 Key Client Sectors: Banking & Finance, Media, Industrial
 Focus Languages: English into Chinese Simplified and vice versa
http://www.cls-communication.com/en/contact/shanghai
| Noel Narciso 12

13. Beijing (北京)
| Noel Narciso 13

14. Beijing (北京)
 Capital of the PRC; located in Northern China
 Seat of power and cultural capital of China
 Current population of 19.6M people (2nd largest in China)
 Ethnicity – Chinese
 Official languages: Mandarin
 Flying time: 2h to Shanghai, 7.5 hrs to SG, 4hrs to HK, 11 hrs to Zurich, 12 hrs
to London, 18 hrs to NY
| Noel Narciso 14

15. Beijing (北京)
CLS Beijing office highlights
 Key Client Sectors: Legal, Banking & Finance, Media, Consulting
 Focus Languages: English into Chinese Simplified and vice versa
http://www.cls-communication.com/en/contact/china/beijing
| Noel Narciso 15

16. Other Key Asian Cities / Markets
Japan
 Tokyo - Ranked 5th in Global Financial Centres Index
 Key client sectors: Banking & Financial Services, Legal
 Focus language: Japanese
Korea
 Seoul - Ranked 9th in Global Financial Centres Index
 Key client sectors: Banking & Financial Services, Legal
 Focus language: Korean
| Noel Narciso 16

17. Chinese: 2 Written Forms
 Numerous dialects based on region
 Tone based pronunciation: different tones carry different meanings (Mandarin
with 4 tones, Cantonese with 9)
 2 written forms (Simplified vs Traditional)
– Simplified Chinese for mainland China (created by communist party; spoken
Mandarin
– Traditional Chinese for HK; spoken Cantonese
– Traditional Chinese for Taiwan; spoken Mandarin
Sample of Cantonese vs. Mandarin
| Noel Narciso 17

18. Simplified vs. Traditional Chinese
„Translation“ (Fānyì)
翻譯 = Traditional
翻译 = Simplified
„Quality“ (Zhìliàng)
質量 = Traditional
质量 = Simplified
| Noel Narciso 18