Baidu Translate: What it is and how to use it

Baidu is often called China’s answer to Google. Like its U.S. counterpart, the Chinese search engine is more than a simple web browser. Its offerings extend into artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and internet services. Among the many AI-driven services is Baidu Fanyi, its machine translation platform. 

Baidu Fanyi, or Baidu Translate, leverages AI and machine learning technology to provide multilingual translation across text, speech, and images.

But how does it stack up against other translation tools? In this guide, we’ll cover how the Baidu Fanyi translator works, explore its strengths and limitations, and compare it to Google’s translation system. 

What is Baidu Fanyi (Baidu Translate)?

Baidu Fanyi is a translation app developed by Baidu, the company behind China’s most popular search engine. It uses a neural machine translation (NMT) engine, a type of AI model that leverages an artificial neural network to predict the probability of word sequences.

Unlike traditional translation systems that translate word by word, NMT gauges context by analyzing entire sentences, helping it create more natural and accurate translations. Its machine learning technology uses data to continuously refine its understanding of language, enhancing its ability to capture nuances.

Baidu Fanyi supports a wide range of languages, including widely spoken languages like English, Mandarin Chinese (including Simplified Chinese), and Spanish, as well as less commonly spoken languages like Armenian and Welsh. The platform can translate text and speech across various language pairs.

Baidu Translate vs. Google Translate

Baidu Translate and Google Translate are two heavyweights of machine translation, but they cater to slightly different audiences and needs. Let’s compare.

Here are the quick facts on Baidu Translate:

• Audience: This Chinese language translator is an excellent alternative for users working within the Chinese market or the Chinese language, thanks to its deep integration with Chinese-language resources. 
• Languages: As of 2025, Baidu Translate offers 203 languages, including some that Google Translate lacks. It offers robust translation across multiple Chinese dialects, including Mandarin and Cantonese, plus literary language like Classical Chinese. However, accuracy may be inconsistent for African and European languages.
• Features: Baidu offers image, document, and speech translation, but its Chinese-language UI limits its utility for global users.

Here’s how Google Translate compares on these metrics:

• Languages: Google Translate is a globally recognized leader in translation services, supporting 249 languages and language varieties. It displays high performance between common language pairs but is inconsistent for less popular languages.
• Features: Google also uses an NMT model to offer varying services, including text, image, and website translations, as well as transcriptions and translations of handwritten notes.
• Audience: Google Translate is a top choice for high-quality enterprise localization workflows. Its machine learning technology and continuous expansion make it a dependable solution for businesses and users seeking accurate, multilingual translations.

Google Translate is also one of Smartling’s machine translation providers. Smartling’s NMT Hub is ideal for brands that need to translate content across multiple languages. It offers a broad range of machine translation engines to craft the best-fit translation, regardless of the language pair.

Benefits of the Baidu Translate app

Baidu Translate is a good choice for users engaging with the Chinese market. Let’s dive deeper into the pros of Baidu Fanyi.

Tailored for the Chinese market

Baidu Translate is particularly strong when translating between Cantonese, Classical Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese, making it an ideal choice for anyone studying, working, or doing business in China.

The machine learning algorithms help it pick up on linguistic subtleties, a common challenge for English-Chinese translations. Likewise, it integrates with other Baidu apps and plugins (e.g., Baidu Maps) to automatically translate web pages to and from Chinese.

Soutien multilingue

In addition to translating several written forms and spoken dialects of Chinese, Baidu Fanyi excels at translating East Asian languages, including Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. This makes it a valuable tool for anyone working within East Asia, particularly businesses or individuals communicating across the region or localizing marketing content. 

Image translation

A standout feature of Baidu Fanyi is its ability to translate images, including photos of handwriting and text. This feature is especially useful for translating signs, documents, and notes that may not be easily typed out. 

Downsides of Baidu Translate

Although Baidu Fanyi offers numerous advantages, its emphasis on Chinese-language users might limit its effectiveness for non-Chinese speakers or languages. Here are a few difficulties English-speaking users may encounter when translating with Baidu:

Difficulty with Western languages

Baidu Translate’s focus on Eastern markets means its translation of Western languages may lack the same level of nuance. Western translation apps like Google Translate and DeepL are likely more accurate when translating languages like English or German. 

Confusing interface

Given its development for the Chinese market, navigating Baidu Fanyi may be difficult if you’re unfamiliar with Chinese languages. Some of Baidu Translate’s user interfaces can be less intuitive for non-Chinese users. For instance, the app and desktop versions default to Chinese text with no English-language interface. Additionally, some icons and labels may not be intuitive for international users. 

Privacy issues

Like many other cloud computing and tech platforms, Baidu Fanyi collects user data to improve services. Although this is common across the industry, some users may find it more concerning due to the platform’s operation under the “Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China,” which allows government supervision under specific circumstances. 

How to use the Baidu Translate: App and desktop

If you aren’t familiar with Chinese languages, navigating the app and desktop version of Baidu Fanyi can prove challenging. Here’s how to use the translation service in a few simple steps:

Mobile translation app

First, you must manually select your desired language pair. If you want to translate into Chinese, look for the dropdowns on the home feed to select “Simplified Chinese” as your target language. Choose another language, such as English, from the options. Enter text in the text box on the left-hand side, and Baidu Fanyi will automatically provide the translation on the right side of the screen. 

The app has additional features that allow users to take a picture of a sign or document, record and translate speech in Chinese, and document new vocabulary in a digital notepad. 

Browser version

Open Baidu Translate in your browser and select your language. The default interface will automatically detect the input language and translate it to Simplified Chinese. Click the left dropdown menu to choose a source language and the right dropdown menu for the target language. Type a phrase in the text box, and the real-time translation will appear on the right. 

To translate images and documents, click the upload icon on the bottom left or drag and drop a file. Likewise, you can click the microphone icon to translate speech and the speaker icon to hear translations. Browser-based translation extensions can help you navigate by translating the entire interface.

Go beyond machine translation with Smartling’s localization platform

Free machine translation tools are quick and convenient, but they can’t capture the nuance or cultural context required for branded content. When messages get lost in translation, so does the impact. 

That’s where Smartling comes in. Using a mix of AI and human translation and localization services, Smartling crafts accurate, culturally relevant, on-brand copy to help your business reach consumers and partners worldwide. 

Ready to take your global content to the next level? Download our eBook, “AI-Powered Localization: Achieving Quality, Cost, and Speed Objectives,” to explore how automation and AI-driven translation solutions can streamline workflows, reduce costs, and improve translation efficiency.