Why bilingual invoices are standard in China trade
Dual-language commercial invoices are common practice in import/export with China — freight carriers like FedEx publish their commercial invoice templates with English and Chinese side by side, and forwarders routinely recommend bilingual commodity descriptions. A bilingual invoice clears faster through the buyer's accounting and customs paperwork because nobody has to translate it: your client's AP department reads their language, your side reads yours, and the numbers are shared.
How the language modes work
- Primary language (required). English, 中文, 日本語, 한국어, Tiếng Việt, Español, Deutsch, Français, or Bahasa Indonesia — all invoice labels and the title (INVOICE / 商业发票 / 請求書 …) switch to that language.
- Second language (optional). Add one and labels are joined with the primary language first, e.g. "Unit price / 单价" or "Đơn giá / 单价". Your own content (company names, item descriptions, notes) can freely mix languages in any mode.
- Full multi-script support in the PDF. Simplified and traditional Chinese, Japanese kanji and kana, Korean Hangul, and Vietnamese diacritics all render correctly — the PDF embeds subsetted Noto Sans fonts and even mixes scripts within one line, so it looks identical on every device.
Important: this is a commercial invoice, not a Chinese fapiao
In mainland China, "发票 (fapiao)" also refers to the official tax receipt issued through the government tax system — no online generator can create that. What this tool produces is a commercial invoice / proforma invoice (商业发票 / 形式发票): the standard billing document used in international trade, quotations, and payment collection. Similarly, it is a general-purpose invoice and not a Japanese qualified invoice (適格請求書) for JCT input-credit purposes.
Frequently asked questions
Which language combinations are supported?
Any pairing of the nine supported languages — English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, German, French, and Indonesian. Pick one primary language and optionally a second; the primary comes first in each label, and the live preview updates instantly. Dedicated pages: Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, German, French, Indonesian.
Can I type traditional Chinese?
Yes. The embedded font covers simplified Chinese (GB2312), traditional Chinese (Big5), and Japanese (JIS), so company names from Taiwan or Hong Kong print correctly too.
Does a bilingual invoice cost extra?
No — like everything on this site it's free, with no sign-up and no watermark. The PDF stays small (usually under 100 KB) because only the characters you actually use are embedded.
Is my data sent to a server for translation?
No. Nothing you type leaves your browser. The labels are pre-translated, and the PDF — including the Chinese/Japanese font — is assembled entirely on your device.