Guangzhou rolls out multi-language public service platform

Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong province, launched a multi-language service platform on July 31 to better serve expats working, studying, travelling, and living in the southern Chinese metropolis.

The platform was jointly launched by the foreign affairs office of the Guangzhou municipal government and the Guangzhou municipal government information office. It was built by the translation department of the foreign affairs office and China Telecom's Guangzhou branch. Lei Weiju, deputy director of the foreign affairs office of the Guangzhou municipal government, and other Guangzhou government officials, as well as consul generals from South Korea and Japan in Guangzhou attended the launch ceremony.

The hotline 960169, through which expats can get multi-language services, was also opened at the ceremony.

The platform and the hotline offer 24-hour English services. From 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, it offers interpretation services in Japanese and Korean languages.

According to statistics from Guangzhou's public security bureau, expats in Guangzhou mainly come from the US, Japan, and South Korea, thus the platform and hotline offer the aforementioned three languages. In the future, the service time for the three foreign languages will be extended and services in new languages will be available.

The foreign affairs office of the Guangzhou municipal government has been pressing ahead with a number of key works to improve Guangzhou's internationalization level in government public services, promote the city's image, as well as lure more overseas talents and investment, such as laying out standards for English public signs and building the multi-language service platform.