New Terms Added to Corporate Governance Vocabulary

I’ve added new terms to the list of Business or Corporate Governance Vocabulary.

Don’t forget, the Chinese translations come from the Chinese students rather than professional translators. While I believe they are accurate, you may want to consult professionals before using them for official documents. This is mainly intended to contribute to daily conversation between English speaking Companies and Chinese companies.

Abbreviations:
v. = Verb
n. = Noun
adj. = Adjective
adv. = Adverb

(c) All Rights Reserved. You are welcome to use this material. However, if you do end up using these definitions in your material (educational, informational, or professional), please include either a link to this webpage or the following reference: Blessing, Olivia. “Corporate Governance Vocabulary.” DeceptivelyBlonde.com. This is for two reasons: 1) I’d like to share the resource with others. 2) I created these definitions myself. Thanks!

Advise (v.) ~ Offer someone suggestions about what to do (e.g. who to hire, what rules to make, where to invest, etc.). Alternatives include: Advisory (adj.), Adviser (n.), Advice (n.). 提供意见 – Tígōng Yìjiàn

Agency (n. / adj.) ~ A place or system where a person or business offers services for and gives professional advice to a client. (e.g. Real Estate Agency, where the agent assists the client with purchasing a home). 机构 – Jīgòu

Agent (n.) ~ An individual selected or hired to do to the work for someone else or to represent someone else. 代理人 – Dàilǐ Rén

Amend (v.) ~ Make changes to something. 修改 – Xiūgǎi

Articles (n.) ~ A written essay or paper discussing or talking about a specific topic. Common examples are Journal Articles, Newspaper Articles, Magazine Articles. 文章 – Wénzhāng

Articles of Incorporation (n.) ~ Sample from the State of California, USA. This company charter is a set of documents that include all the relevant facts of the corporation and officially creates the company. Information within usually includes name, purpose, address, title and addresses of all officers, name of official representative, information regarding stock, and other significant details required to officially create the company. Unlike some countries, the US Government requires that these Articles be filed with them as part of the Incorporation process. 公司章程 – Gōngsī Zhāngchéng

Audit (n./v.) ~ The official examination of the corporations financial accounts and management to ensure good behavior. Good corporations usually arrange to have this done by independent committees or external organizations. 审计 – Shěnjì

Benefit (v.) ~ To get or receive something good (an advantage or profit) from something. (e.g. one benefit to working for my company is a good salary). 得益 – Dé yì

Board of Directors (n.)~ A group of people who work inbetween the Executive Staff and Shareholders to make many of the major rules and decisions of the company. 董事会 – Dǒngshìhuì

Business (n.) ~ The process of obtaining the resources you need via trade or an exchange. 交易-Jiāoyì; 商业-shāngyè

Bylaws (n.) ~ A list of rules and articles laying out the company’s operational standpoints that serve to control the behavior of the company and the people involved. 规章制度 – Guīzhāng zhìdù; 章程- Zhāngchéng

CEO (n.) ~ See Chief Executive Officer

Certificate (n.) ~ An official document proving something. 证明书 – Zhèngmíng shū

Chief Executive Officer (n.) ~ The Chief Executive Officer is the highest-ranked person in a company and head of the Executive Staff. Ultimately responsible for all major management decisions not handled by the Board. 首席执行官 – Shǒuxí zhíxíng guān; 执行总裁 – Zhí háng zǒngcái

Chief Operations Officer (n.) ~ The Chief Operations Officer is a senior executive responsible for the day-to-day operation or actions of the company. 首席运营官 – Shǒuxí yùnyíng guān

Code(s) (n.) ~ A set of laws and regulations dealing with a certain topic. E.g. Uniform Commercial Code, Bylaws (the business code), Employee Code, Dress Code. 法典 – Fǎdiǎn

Committee (n.) ~ A group of people appointed to do something. In business it is usually a managerial or advisory role. 委员会 – Wěiyuánhuì

Conflict (n.) ~ A disagreement or argument between two people or groups. The interests of one group is not the same as the other group, and so they fight. 冲突 – Chōngtú

Conflict of Interest (n.) ~ A problem where someone can use their power wrongfully to benefit themselves to the detriment or loss of those who entrusted them with that power. 利益冲突 – Lìyì chōngtú

Contract (n.) ~ A written or spoken promise for two people or parties to do something. In corporations, they usually involve promises to act or behave a certain way in business or trade. 合同- Hétóng

COO (n.) ~ See Chief Operations Officer

Copyright (n.) ~ The exclusive right to use something (no one else can use or copy it) given to the creator by law. 版权 – Bǎnquán; 著作权 – zhùzuòquán

Corporation (n.) ~ A special type of company where 1) it is treated like an individual by the law-with its own rights and obligations; and 2) the employees are protected from most liability because the company is held legally liable rather than the individual owners or employees. 公司-Gōngsī *This term also means “company” – they could not find a lateral translation of “Corporation” as referring to a specific type of legal company.

Cost-Effective (adv./adj) ~ An action that accomplishes all the required work at the lowest possible cost. 有成本效益的 – Yǒu chéngběn xiàoyì de

Delegate (n. | v.) ~ A person authorized or approved to represent or do the work for someone else. Or the act of authorizing or approving someone else to represent or do one’s work. 代表 – Dàibiǎo

Duration (n.) ~ The length of time during which something happens. 持续的时间 – Chíxù de shíjiān; 期间 – Qíjiān

Fee (n.) ~ Money payed to professionals, companies, or the government. 费用 – Fèiyòng

Function (n.) ~ The reason something exists; A person or object’s purpose or job. 功能 – Gōngnéng

Guidelines (n.) ~ General rules or regulations about how to act or do things. Often used interchangeably with “rules.” 准则 – Zhǔnzé; 指导方针 – zhǐdǎo fāngzhēn

Incorporation (n.) ~ The process or act of creating a legal corporation by following each of the steps required by the Government. These steps usually include 1) Structuring the Company, 2) Creating the Necessary Paperwork, Filing the Forms, Paying all the Required Fees, and Obtaining the Requisite Certifications and Licenses. 创建公司通过服从法律要求- Chuàngjiàn gōngsī tōngguò fúcóng fǎlǜ yāoqiú *Incorporation does not have a lateral translation. Instead, they chose this phrase meaning “Create a legal company by obeying the legal requirements”

Incorporated (adj.) ~ 1. Used to describe a company that has been formed as a legal corporation with all the special rights and obligations of that type of business. Often part of the Company name, abbreviated or shortened to “Inc.” *No Good Translation. 2. Bringing all the different pieces and parts together into a whole, finished product. 混合 – Hùnhé

Investor (n.) ~ The person who provides money, assets, or resources to the business, usually in return for more money. 投资者 – Tóuzī zhě

Lawful (adj.) ~ Something that obeys or is allowed by the law. Legal. 法定的 – Fǎdìng de

Legal System (n.) ~ The system a country or organization uses to create, interpret, and enforce its rules. Enforce means make people obey. 法律体系 – Fǎlǜ tǐxì

Manager (n.) ~ The person responsible for controlling, leading, monitoring, and disciplining a certain group of people or the actions of a certain part of the company. 经理 – Jīnglǐ

Market (n.) ~ A location where individuals and companies come together for the purpose of doing trade and business. 市场 – Shìchǎng

Monitor (v.) ~ To observe or watch over something or someone to make sure everything is done properly. 监视 – Jiānshì

Mutual (adj./adv.) ~ Something found in common between two or more people. Often use in terms of shared opinions or feelings. 相互 – Xiānghù; 共有的 – Gòngyǒu de

Nominate (v.) ~ To advise or recommend something, especially an action to take in the future or a person for a job. 提名 – Tímíng

Officer (n.) ~ A person holding a position of authority. 官 – Guān

Owner (n.) ~ A person who has possession of all the rights to use, claim, and/or profit from something. 所有者 – Suǒyǒu zhě

Ownership (n. / adj.) ~ The quality of possessing or having all the rights to use, claim, and/or profit from something. 所有权 – Suǒyǒuquán

Principal (n.) ~ The most important or senior person. The owner / client / employer. The person who hires other people to be their agents or delegates. 首长 – Shǒuzhǎng

Purpose (n.) ~ The reason why something is done or why something exists. The Function. 目的 – Mùdì

Registered (adj.) ~ Added to the official government record or listing of corporations. 注册 – Zhùcè

Relationship (n.) ~ The correlation or link tying two people or things together. 关系 – Guānxì

Representative (n.) ~ A person chosen to stand for and speak on behalf of a group. 代表 -Dàibiǎo

Secretary (n.) ~ The person chosen to handle most communication, record-keeping, managing the calendar, and carrying out other daily tasks. 秘书 – Mìshū

Self-Interest (n.) ~ Caring about oneself; thinking about one’s own benefits or costs. The desire to get benefits or advantages for oneself. 私心 – Sīxīn

Shares (n.) ~ When part of a company’s ownership is divided into equal portions, each portion is called a share. Each share gives the owner part of the ownership, profits, and a vote. A piece of the Stock. 股 – Gǔ

Shareholder (n.) ~ A person or company who owns a piece or share of a company. There can be Majority Shareholders and Minority Shareholders. 股东 – Gǔdōng

Signature (n.) ~ A person’s name written in a special unique way so that the name can be a form of identification or a tool for authorization. 签名 – Qiānmíng

Stakeholder (n.) ~ Any person or organization who has an interest in something. This means they will somehow benefit or suffer because of that thing. In business, stakeholders are the people or organizations that benefit or suffer depending on the behavior of the business. Examples include owners, employees, suppliers, society, the government, partners, etc. 利益相关者 – Lìyì xiāngguān zhě

Stewardship (n.) ~ Properly managing, controlling, and using something. *Hard to translate, best one they could find = 管理工作 – Guǎnlǐ gōngzuò

Stock (n.) ~ 1. The company as a whole including all its votes, profit, and ownership – divided and sold in shares. 2. The money the company gets by selling shares. 股票 – Gǔpiào

Stock Certificate (n.) ~ An official document proving that a person or company owns a certain amount of company stock. 股权证书 – Gǔquán zhèngshū

Theory (n.) ~ An answer to a problem or an explanation about how something works. 学说 – Xuéshuō

Trademark (n.) ~ A Trademark is any arrangement of words or images intended to set the products of one company apart so people can recognize the produce by seeing those words or images. 商标 – Shāngbiāo

Transaction (n.) ~ The exchange or trade of one thing for something else. Each completed trade is one transaction. 交易 – Jiāoyì

Treasurer (n.) ~ A person selected to manage the financial matters of a group or company. Their main job is to advise the Board and/or Executive Staff about financial policies, finding investors and moneys to finance the company, managing company investments, and handing future financial risks. 财务主管 – Cáiwù zhǔguǎn

Voluntary (adj. | adv.) ~ Willingly or freely done; no force is involved. 自愿地做的工作 – Zìyuàn de zuò de gōngzuò