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Certified Chinese Medical Records Translation

Certified translation of the documents that record medical history in China, including the registry annotations and endorsements that carry the legal effect and that a reader unfamiliar with the system will otherwise skip.

The vaccination certificate is a green booklet

China issues a 预防接种证 — a vaccination certificate booklet — at birth, recording every dose with the date, the vaccine, the manufacturer and the lot, stamped by the administering clinic. It is required for school enrolment, so families keep it.

It is the immunisation record for an I-693 and it is a small booklet applicants forget to scan. We translate every entry including the clinic stamps.

Class I and Class II vaccines

The Chinese programme distinguishes Class I vaccines, provided free under the national plan, from Class II vaccines paid for voluntarily. The booklet records both and the distinction is visible in the entries.

A US reader assessing completeness against a US schedule needs to know that some vaccines they expect are Class II in China and may simply not have been given. We note which category an entry falls in where the booklet indicates it.

The record is held by the hospital

A Chinese 病历 (bìnglì) — the medical record — is retained by the hospital. Outpatients carry a 病历本, a small booklet the doctor writes in at each visit, and inpatients receive a discharge summary (出院小结).

So what a patient can produce is the outpatient booklet and discharge summaries rather than a chart. We name each document and the hospital, whose grade — 三甲 and similar — appears on the stamp and indicates its level.

Chops, and the birth medical certificate

Chinese medical documents are authenticated with the institution's chop, a red seal, rather than only a signature, and the seal is what makes the document the hospital's act. We describe each chop and translate its text.

The 出生医学证明 — birth medical certificate — is a separate numbered document issued by the hospital and is the primary evidence of birth in China. See our Chinese page.

Ordering, and what the certification covers

Upload the document, choose certified translation at $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, and it comes back typically within 24 hours as a PDF formatted to mirror the original, with a signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead. Marginal annotations are translated in place, in the margin, and every seal, stamp and registry endorsement is translated with the text. See how we translate and certified versus standard.

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