chù zhǎng
the head of a department; section chief
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李处长今天不在办公室。
Lǐ chùzhǎng jīntiān bùzài bàngōngshì.
Director Li is not in the office today.
我需要和处长谈谈。
Wǒ xūyào hé chùzhǎng tántan.
I need to talk to the director.
处长已经批准了我们的申请。
Chùzhǎng yǐjīng pīzhǔnle wǒmen de shēnqǐng.
The director has approved our application.
科长 (kē zhǎng)
Section chief
主任 (zhǔ rèn)
Director
下属 (xià shǔ)
subordinate
员工 (yuán gōng)
employee
The Chinese word 处长 (chǔzhǎng) is a compound word consisting of two characters: 处 (chǔ) and 长 (zhǎng). The character 处 originally meant "place" or "location", but it has also been used to refer to a "department" or "section" within an organization. The character 长, on the other hand, means "head" or "leader". When combined, the two characters 处长 literally mean "head of a department" or "section chief". In modern Chinese, 处长 is used as a title for a mid-level manager or official in a government agency, a company, or other organization.
