• Complimentary
  Pamphlet

• Restricted to manufacturers in Japan.
• Includes excerpts of the (latest version of) statues for regulating documents in China!

Latest information about instruction manuals from China

View of Japanese instruction manuals in China:
Locals consider the manuals made in Japan to be very good in terms of creation and contents. However, there are times when the manuals created in Japan are not allowed because the Japanese creators do not know the national standards. Therefore, locals had to inform the Japanese creators about the standards and then request changes.
Purpose of instruction manuals according to Chinese authorities:
China manages even the quality of instruction manuals. One of the government's priorities in 2007 was the thorough implementation of the GB standards. A number of very detailed points, including information that should be included in an instruction manual, font size, regulations when the manual includes both Chinese and foreign writing (such as provisions that the Chinese must come first and be printed with a larger font size than the foreign language), were defined as law.
Strengthened consumer protection laws:
Consumers have a right to bring complaints about products to the government. If a complaint is received, the authorities can impose a penalty upon manufacturers.
Therefore, manufacturers must know the laws and then strive to abide by them.
Enforceable governmental standards:
GB are mandatory standards. GB/T are optional standards (compliance recommended). However, technical terms are not uniform on the national level, and words do not keep up with technology. With a deluge of terms that are difficult to understand, there is currently a movement to unify terms on a national level. With the GB standards, a glossary is being formed for each field, and it appears that the glossaries will continue to increase in the future. It is very important for corporations to obtain this information and follow it carefully. However, this information is only sold in Beijing, and only part of the information is published on the internet.
National standard character code GB18030:
Since September 2001, all devices sold in China that display or output text must include this character code. There is no strict regulation for instruction manuals, but the type of applications used for creating instruction manuals may change.
Example: FrameMaker does not comply with GB18030, and therefore it cannot be sold within China.
As national standards become ever stricter, instruction manuals for China and the DTP applications used to create them should ideally comply with GB18030.
Standard for instruction manuals (excerpt)

• Products made for sale within China must include an instruction manual in simplified Chinese.
  (Instruction manuals cannot be only in English or traditional Chinese. It is likely in the future that software containing only English language GUI* will also become forbidden.)
• When other languages are included, the Chinese text must stand out.
• Regulations for expressions in the text (do not use passive voice, use imperative form for procedures, etc.)
• Regulations for cautionary statements regarding safety (marks to use, font, position, etc.)