Best Books for Technology Chinese
Mandarin for the tech industry
30 books
Chosen for Technology Chinese
500 Common Chinese Idioms: An Annotated Frequency Dictionary
The 500 chengyu that actually turn up, ordered by frequency, each with its literal sense, its real use, register notes and example sentences. Idioms are where advanced learners are judged, and this is the shortlist.
500 Common Chinese Proverbs and Colloquial Expressions
The companion volume, covering the spoken sayings and set phrases that never make it into textbooks but run through everyday conversation. Frequency-ordered and annotated the same way.
A Frequency Dictionary of Mandarin Chinese
The 5,000 most frequent words ranked from a real corpus, each with pronunciation, gloss and an authentic example. The most defensible order in which to learn vocabulary once the HSK lists run out.
ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary
A landmark dictionary that orders every entry strictly alphabetically by pinyin — making it far faster to look up words you can say but not yet read. A long-time favourite of dedicated learners and scholars.
AI Superpowers
A leading technologist explains how China became a powerhouse in artificial intelligence alongside Silicon Valley. An accessible, forward-looking read on China's tech ambitions and their global impact.
Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built
The inside story of how Jack Ma built Alibaba into one of China's most influential tech giants. A clear, engaging guide to the rise of Chinese e-commerce and entrepreneurship.
Business Chinese for Success: Real Cases from Real Companies
Built from case studies of actual companies operating in China, so the vocabulary arrives inside a real commercial argument. Strong on the language of strategy, market entry and competition.
China CEO: A Case Guide for Business Leaders in China
Distilled advice from dozens of senior executives running companies in China — covering management, negotiation, and the cultural fault-lines that trip up newcomers. A practical playbook for doing business with China.
Chinese Business Etiquette
The classic guide to the manners, protocol, and unspoken rules of doing business in China — gift-giving, banquets, face, and guanxi. Indispensable for handling real professional encounters with confidence.
Chinese Characters: A Genealogy and Dictionary
A fascinating reference that maps characters by their shared components, revealing the family trees behind the script. Look one up and see all its relatives — a favourite for understanding how hanzi are actually built.
Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary
The hugely popular pocket two-way dictionary co-published by Oxford and the Commercial Press — compact, affordable, and everywhere in classrooms. A dependable everyday companion for looking words up in either direction.
Dealing with China
Former US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson shares decades of high-level dealings with China's leaders and economy. A thoughtful look at the relationships and forces shaping Chinese business and finance.
Dictionnaire Chinois-Français, Français-Chinois
A practical two-way French–Chinese dictionary for Francophone learners of Mandarin, covering everyday vocabulary in both directions with pinyin throughout. A solid bilingual companion for the French-speaking classroom.
Doing Business in China
The academic reference on market entry: structures, law, regulation and partnership models, kept current across editions. Drier than the memoirs, and far more useful when you are actually deciding something.
Experiencing Chinese: Business Communication in China
A compact 60–80 hour course aimed at professionals already posted to China. Task-driven, focused on getting a specific thing done in Chinese rather than on covering a syllabus.
Langenscheidt Handwörterbuch Chinesisch
A comprehensive Chinese–German / German–Chinese dictionary from Langenscheidt, the trusted name in German bilingual references. Broad, modern vocabulary with clear translations in both directions.
Mr. China: A Memoir
A gripping first-hand story of a Western investor sinking hundreds of millions into 1990s China and colliding with a business culture he barely understood. Hilarious, humbling, and genuinely instructive about trust and negotiation.
New Silk Road Business Chinese (Intermediate I)
Peking University’s business series, written for learners heading into trade and commerce. Practical, dialogue-heavy, and the closest thing to a mainland-standard business textbook.
One Billion Customers
A veteran journalist and businessman's vivid, story-driven guide to the realities of the Chinese market — full of cautionary tales and hard-won lessons. Essential reading before you pitch, partner, or sell in China.
Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary
A learner-first dictionary that spells everything out — pinyin on every entry, sample sentences, and clear notes on usage and grammar. Designed from the ground up for people in their first years of Chinese.
Oxford Chinese Dictionary
A comprehensive two-way English–Chinese / Chinese–English dictionary with over 670,000 words, phrases, and translations. The authoritative desk reference for advanced study and translation work.
Pocket Cantonese Dictionary
A handy two-way Cantonese–English dictionary with jyutping romanisation and characters — perfect for travel to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, or Macau, or for learners adding the Cantonese variety alongside their Mandarin.
Poorly Made in China
An insider's eye-opening account of manufacturing and quality games in China's export factories. A candid, story-driven look at the realities of sourcing and doing business with Chinese suppliers.
Startup Business Chinese, Level 1
A proper business-Chinese course rather than a phrasebook. Level 1 covers introductions, arrangements and office routine, with the etiquette notes that stop a correct sentence landing wrong.
Startup Business Chinese, Level 2
Level 2 moves from small talk to substance — meetings, proposals, disagreement, and the careful language of a deal that is not settled yet.
Startup Business Chinese, Level 3
The advanced volume: negotiation, contracts and formal written register. The point at which business Chinese stops being vocabulary and starts being judgement.
The Chinese Way in Business
The cultural logic behind Chinese commercial behaviour — guanxi, face, hierarchy and the long approach to trust. Explains why a deal that looks agreed may not be.
The End of Cheap China
Argues that the low-cost-factory China most Westerners still picture stopped existing some time ago, and reads the consumer market that replaced it. Written by a market researcher who sells to it.
Tuttle Compact Chinese Dictionary
A genuinely pocket-sized two-way dictionary with around 35,000 entries, simplified and traditional forms, pinyin, and radical indexing. The grab-and-go reference for class, travel, and everyday lookups.
Tuttle Learner's Chinese-English Dictionary
A compact, beginner-friendly dictionary built for learners — entries by radical and pinyin, with stroke counts, measure words, and example sentences. An ideal first paper dictionary.