An Introductory Course for
International Business
Correspondence
Chapter One
Generality of International Business Correspondence
I. Introduction
The exchange of information is basic to business;
without it, business could not function. Every transaction
needs communication.The letter is a common business
communication medium. Normally a letter is a personal
contact, which is accomplished by putting words on paper.
The writer of the letter puts on paper a massage; thus a
conversation begins. The writer has the “first say,” but
he may, and often does, invite the reader to reply. As
the letter pass back and forth, the two persons talk to
each other until there is a meeting of minds, or, for lack
of it , the conversation ends.
Although formality in business letter writing is
rapidly giving way to less conventional and more
friendly style, the layout still follows a more or
less set pattern determined by custom. In writing
a business letter, we should remember 7C’s:
(1) clarity (清楚)
(2) conciseness(简洁)
(3) courtesy(礼貌）
(4) completeness(完整)
(5) correctness (正确)
(6) concreteness(具体)
(7) consideration(谅解)
II. Structures and Styles of business letters
1.Letterhead：The name of the writer’s
company, its Add., Tel. No., E-mail Add.,
Fax No.
e.g.
Shanghai International Trade Company
100 Nanjing Rd. Shanghai 200001 China
Tel: (086-21) 5878 6888
Fax: (086-21) 5878 6887
E-mail: [email protected]
2. Reference number: For receivers or writers, this
part is used for files.
e.g. Our reference / Our Ref. (writer)
Your reference/ Your Ref. (receiver)
3. Date: The date when the writer writes a letter.
4. Inside Name and Address: It includes the receiver’s
name, company’s name and address.
5. The Attention Line: If the above part has already
included the receiver’s name or department, this
part can be omitted.
It’s normally written as: For the attention of Mr.
Smith / Attention: Mr. Smith
6. Salutation: e.g.
Dear Mr. Brown(if you know his name);
Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, Dear Madam, Gentlemen, (if
you don’t know his or her name)
7. Subject or Caption :
e.g. Subject: New Price / Re. : New Price
8. Body / The Massage
9. The Complimentary Close:
‘Yours faithfully/Faithfully yours,’ is used for the
Salutation as ‘Dear Sir, Dear Madam, Ladies and
Gentlemen’, but ‘Yours sincerely/Sincerely yours’
is used for the Salutation as ‘Dear Mr. Smith, Dear
Dr. White’.
10. The Company Name of the writer
(if it’s a complete business letter)
11. Signature
12. The Reference Notation or Identification Line
( in your book)：This notation is typed two
spaces below the typed signature, and shows
only the initials of the stator’s, secretary’s or
typist’s names.
e.g. RGB/rgb
13. Enclosure：Two line-spacing below the
Reference Notation
e.g. Enclosure：Price List
Enclosures 4
Encl.
Enc.
14. Carbon Copy Notation：If the letter should
copy to the third party, then this part is needed.
This part can be written or typed at the bottom
of the sheet on the left side.
e.g. cc. The Bank of Osaka, Kobe
CC. The Osaka Chamber of Commerce
& Industry (大阪工业商会)
15. Postscript: It’s usually written as: P.S./ P.S.I.,
two space below the carbon copy notation.
e.g. P.S., on behalf of my company,
sincerely invite you and your assistant
to attend Shanghai East China Fair.
III. Format of business letters:
There are three forms of English business letters
1.Semi-blocked form (折衷式)
……………………………………………………….
………………… Letterhead
…….Date
………………
……………Inside Address
…………Salutation
…………Subject
…………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………Body
………..…Complimentary close
……….Signature
Sample
Shanghai International Trading Company
Pudong Ave. Shanghai 200012 China
Tel: (086-21) 6868 7979 Fax: (086-21) 68687978
E-mail: [email protected]
Sept. 11，2011
Dear Mr. Guo Min,
Re: XC253 Newsprint
After studying your catalog, we are interested in XC253
newsprint. We would like to order 3,500 tons of XC253
newsprint. But we suggest that you give us a 3% discount on
your price list. If you agree to our proposal, please state your
earliest delivery date and your terms of payment.
We are looking forward to your early reply.
Yours sincerely,
Mary Smith
Mary Smith
2.full block style (绝对齐头式)
Hanshen Import and Export Corp.
51 Xiele Road
Guangzhou
June 12, 2002
Meto Stainless Steel Corp.
62 S. Fifth Street
Columbus, Ohio 52180
Dear Sirs,
1
We learn from Guangzhou Export Commodities Fair that you are
experienced in the export trade of stainless steel. We would very much
like to establish business relations with you, which we hope will be
beneficial to both of us. We are actually one of the major steel product
importers in our country. We have built up a number of business
connections at home and our business is expanding steadily. If you are
interested, we hope to receive your catalog as soon as possible. And we
will be pleased to provide our bank and trade reference.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Faithfully yours,
Liu Zhen
Liu Zhen
3. Blocked or Modified Blocked (齐头式)
Sample
Fastwave Trading Corporation
32 Highview Terrace
St Lucia， Queensland
4063 Australia
20 May 2007
Hongfei Sportsshoe Factory
2020 North Street
Hongkou District， Shanghai
Attention： Sales Department
Dear Mr. Smith
We are writing to complain about the delivery of the
sports shoes we ordered on 3 April. According to our
Contract No. 0217, we are to get the goods delivered
before 7 May, but so far the goods have not reached us.
Your failure to make delivery on time has caused serious
financial problems to us. If we do not receive the goods
within three days, we will have to cancel the order. And
we reserve the right for further claim.
Looking forward to your reply.
yours truly
Chowdhury
Chowdhury
IV. Envelope Addressing
1. Indented Form ( 缩进式/斜列式)
Wu Qing
China International Travel Service
21 Jingshan Road Beijing,100001
China
Mr. John Smith
98 Park Ave
New York, N.Y.
U. S. A
2. Block Form (并列式)
Wu Qing
China International Travel Service
21 Jingshan Road Beijing,100001
China
Mr. Bean Smith
98 Park Ave.
New York, N. Y.
U. S. A.
V. Some useful sentences or phrases for beginning or
concluding an English Letter.
1. Beginning
A. I am very glad to receive your letter of May 6…
B. With great delight I learn that…
C. I have the pleasure to tell you that…
D. I have just received your kind letter about…
E. Your kind letter of… arrived this morning.
F. As I haven’t received your letter for long, I feel
anxious.(久未通信，挂念之至)
F. Thank you very much
for your letter of…
2 Concluding
A. I hope to hear from you soon.
B. I look forward to our next meeting.
C. Your kind early reply will be appreciated.
D. We hope that our work will prove in every way
satisfactory to you.
E. Any other particular requires I shall be
pleased to give you.
( 如需其他详情，当欣然奉告。)
F. The help you send is sincerely valued. (承蒙厚
助，由衷感幸。)
…