An interpreter training program jointly run by the European Union (EU) and the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) started operation Monday.

The program aims to train professional interpreters for the Chinese government, foreign enterprises operating in China and China-based representative offices of international organizations, said administrators of the program.

The year-long program will provide trainees with courses such as English consecutive interpretation, simultaneous interpretation and studies of international organizations.

Sources said that veteran interpretation trainers from the EU Joint Interpreting and Conference Service (JICS) and UIBE will teach the program, which is now recruiting its first group of 30 students.

The organizers said that as China is developing ties with European countries as well as applying for the 2008 Olympics and WTO entry, the country's demand for high-level conference and negotiation interpreters is expected to surge by a large margin.

The JICS has some 700 conference interpreters, and provides interpretation services in 11 languages. The JICS started to train professional interpreters for China in 1985.

(Xinhua 05/14/2001)