Greg, it's funny you should mention that ....
Here at ECN I have posted pictures of panels labled in Korean as well as Chinese. I 'inherited' the Korean panel, and was responsible for the Chinese one.
For the Chinese one, I was 'taken to task' by an "inspector" who objected to the writing on the panel cover, right next to the breakers. It was his assertion that the NEC required a 'directory,' which he understood to mean that you MUST use the little cardboard thing. (FWIW, I had already obtained a ruling on that point from the appropriate committee
)
IMO, the breakers need to be ID'd in a manner that makes it crystal-clear to the OCCUPANT exactly which breaker controls what. If that means the Chinese characters mean "Jimmy's bedroom," that's OK with me. It's not for me to speculate as to the needs of the next occupant.
After all, it's not the inspector who will be frantically looking for the right breaker when the air conditioner decides to let its' smoke out.
For public buildings, or areas under the control of 'qualified personnel," I would insist upon English. This is, after all, a country that started with 13 ENGLISH colonies.
My Chinese panel? I Marked the breakers in English as I built the place (lables right on the faces of the breakers) ... then had the customer mark the cover next to them in Chinese as well.
