CAD annotation created using a Unicode font does not display correctly in ArcMap

Description

CAD TEXT entities created with Unicode fonts in the native application may not display correctly in ArcMap, or in the ArcCatalog Preview window.

This can affect character display in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Latvian languages among others.

Cause

CAD Reader does not support Unicode fonts.

Solution or Workaround

1. In AutoCAD, explode the blocks that contain the TEXT entities, and save the AutoCAD DWG or DXF to a new name.
   

   Note:
   The following steps do not work if the annotation is in blocks.

   
   
2. Run the Import from CAD Tool in ArcToolbox at Conversion Tools > To Geodatabase to import point, polyline, polygon and multipatch entities to a CAD Staging geodatabase.
3. After importing the features, in ArcCatalog, right-click on the CAD Staging feature dataset, select Import > Feature Class (single), and import the annotation from the AutoCAD DWG or DXF file.
   
   The annotation is converted to a point feature class in the geodatabase feature dataset, and the TEXT entities are preserved as an attribute of the points.
4. Add the new point feature class to ArcMap, and label the points with the values in the RefName; Text; or TxtMemo fields. The special characters are stored correctly in all these fields.
5. Convert the labels to annotation in the geodatabase. The unicode characters are preserved correctly in the new annotation feature class.