Simplified vs Traditional Chinese for Business

Where each script is the everyday standard

Simplified characters are the standard forms in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore. Traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Overseas Chinese communities are mixed: older communities often grew up with traditional characters, newer arrivals from the mainland with simplified.

Customers mostly from	Script	Spoken language you may also meet
Mainland China	Simplified	Mandarin (plus regional languages)
Singapore, Malaysia	Simplified	Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese and others
Hong Kong, Macau	Traditional	Cantonese
Taiwan	Traditional	Mandarin
Long-established diaspora communities	Often traditional, increasingly mixed	Cantonese, Mandarin and others

Script and spoken language are separate questions. Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong read traditional characters; Mandarin speakers in Taiwan read traditional too. Choose the script by where customers learned to read.

A quick decision path

Count for two weeks. Ask staff to note where Chinese-speaking customers say they are from, or which script they type in messages.
If one group is clearly larger, use its script everywhere. Most tourist areas in Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia see mainly mainland visitors, so simplified is the usual starting point there.
If both groups are large, keep simplified as the main version and add traditional where it matters most: the menu, the price list and your profile page.
Never mix scripts in one sentence. It looks careless to both groups.

Converting is not enough: words differ too

Automatic converters swap characters one for one. They do not change vocabulary, and some everyday words differ between the mainland and Taiwan or Hong Kong. A few examples a business might use:

English	Mainland (simplified)	Taiwan (traditional)
Taxi	出租车	計程車
Print (a document)	打印	列印
Software	软件	軟體
Video	视频	影片
Information	信息	資訊

Hong Kong usage can differ again (for example, 的士 for taxi in Cantonese). If traditional-script customers matter to you, ask a reader from that place to check the converted text.

Numbers, dates and money: get these right in either script

Formatting errors are easy to avoid and noticeable when they slip through. These conventions are the same in simplified and traditional Chinese unless noted.

Item	Write it like this	Note
Dates	10月15日（周三）	Month before day; avoid 15/10, which readers may take as month 15
Times	10:00–20:00 or 上午10点至晚上8点	24-hour times are widely understood and shortest
Australian dollars	澳元 / A$ 25	Always name the currency; ¥ alone suggests RMB or yen
Singapore dollars	新元 / S$ 25	新加坡元 in full; in Taiwan 新台币 means the Taiwan dollar, so avoid the shortened 新币
US dollars, euros, pounds	美元 / 欧元 / 英镑	Traditional: 美元 / 歐元 / 英鎊
Weekdays	周一 … 周日 (or 星期一 … 星期日)	Taiwan and Hong Kong often prefer 星期 or 週

Note to send with any translation job

Target readers: [mainland visitors / Hong Kong visitors / Taiwan visitors / local community].
Script: [simplified / traditional].
Please use vocabulary natural for [mainland China / Hong Kong / Taiwan], not just a character conversion.
Keep our business name as: [Chinese name] / [English name].
Flag any sentence where the meaning was unclear in English.

Common questions

Can I show both scripts side by side?

On a short menu or sign it can work, but it doubles the text. Most businesses do better with one main script plus a separate version on request or on a QR-linked page.

Will mainland visitors understand traditional characters?

Many can read them with some effort, and the same is true the other way round. Using the script they grew up with simply removes friction.

Which script should my Chinese name use?

Prepare both forms of the same name and use the main script on your signage. See the naming guide.

Sources

Simplified Chinese charactersWikipedia · checked 2026-10-15

Still check yourself: Who your customers actually are. A quick tally at the counter for two weeks beats any general rule.