1.Layout of Foreign Trade Correspondence
Usually, there are the following elements informal business letters.
1）Letterhead 信头
Letterhead includes the sender’s name, postaladdress, telephone number, fax number, and E-mail address, etc. Usually letterhead is printed in the up-center or at the left margin of a letter.
Shenzhen Chiwan Petroleum Supply Base Co., Ltd
Add.14FChiwan Petroleum Building Shekou
Shenzhen China 518068
Tel.86-755-26694211
Fax.86-755-26694227 86-755-26699989
E-mail:webmaster@chiwanbase.com
2）Reference and Date 编号和日期
In business communication, when afirm writes to another, each will give a reference. The reference may include afile number, departmental code or the initials of the signer followed by that of the typist of the letter. These are marked “Our ref:” and “Your ref:” to avoid confusion:
Your ref:
Our ref:
They are typed immediately below the letterhead. If desired, the reference initials can also be placed at the lowerleft margin two lines below the name of the signer.
The date should always be typed infull and not abbreviated (e.g. December for Dec.).And the -th, -st, -nd, and-rd that follow the day can be omitted (e.g. 6 May for 6th May, June1 for June 1st). Don’t write 17 instead of 2017 for the year.
The forms of dates are as follows:
16 th August, 2017 August 16 th, 2017
Avoid typing dates in figures (e.g. 12/3/2017),since it should easily be confusing. Because English form follows the order ofday, month and year, while the U.S. practice is to write in the order of month,day and year. So 12/3/2017 could be taken as either December 3 rd,2017 or March 12 th, 2017.
3）Inside Name and Address 封内名称和地址
The name and address of the receiver is typed at the left-hand margin about two to four spaces below the date. Itappears exactly the same way as on the envelope.
The following are the two examplesto show the way of writing an inside name and address:
e.g. 1 Messers William &Werner
36, Tower Street
North York, Ont
M2H1W8, Canada
e.g. 2 Mr. C. E. Eckersley
The London Export Corporation
6&7 Clifford Street
London, W. 1, England
4）Attention Line 经办人
Attention line is used when the writer of a letter addressed to an organization wishes to direct the letter to a specific individual or section of the firm. It generally follows the inside address.
e.g. Attention: Mr. Smith Attention: The sales Manager
5）Salutation 称呼
Salutation is usually typed three spaces belowthe inside address of the attention line, and followed by a comma for “Dear Sir”,“Dear Sirs”, and a colon for “Gentlemen”.
The customary formal greeting in a businessletter is “Dear Sir” or “Dear Madam” used for addressing one person; and “Dear Sirs”, “Dear Mesdames”, or “Gentlemen”(always should be in plural form andnever write “Gentleman”) for addressing two or more people. If the receiver is known to the writer personally, a warmer greeting “Dear Mr. sb.” is thenpreferred.
6）Subject Line 事由
Subject Line is actually the general idea of a letter.It is inserted between the salutation and the body of the letter either at theleft-hand margin for fully-blocked letter form or centrally over the body forother forms. It calls the receiver’s attention to the topic of the letter.
7）Body of a Letter 正文
This is the main part of the letter. It expresses the writer's idea, opinion, purpose and wishes, etc., so it should be carefully planned.
8）Complimentary Close 结尾敬辞
Complimentary Close is merely a polite way ofending a letter. It is in keeping with the salutation. The most commonly usedsets of salutation and Complimentary Close are as follows.
Formal:
Dear Sir(s), Yours faithfully,
Gentlemen: Truly yours,
Less Formal:
Dear Mr. Henry, (: ) Yourssincerely,
(Or:Sincerely yours,)
9）Signature 签名
It is common to type the name of the writer’sfirm or company immediately below complimentary close. Then the person whodictates the letter should sign his name, by hand and in ink, below it. Since hand-written signatures are illegible, the name of the signer is usually typed below the signature, and followed by his job title or position.
10）Enclosure 附件
If something is enclosed, note it below thesignature.
e.g. 1 Enclosures 4 samples
e.g. 2 Encl. Price List
11）Carbon Copy Notation 抄送
When copies of the letter are sent to others,type c.c. below the signature at the left margin.
e.g. 1 c.c. The Osaka Chamber of Commerce
e.g. 2 c.c. Mr. G Well
12）Postscript 附言
If the writer wishes to add something he forgotton mention or for emphasis, he may add his postscript two spaces below the carbon copy notation.
e.g. P.S. The samples will be mailed to you tomorrow.
Try to avoidP.S. since it may suggest that the writer failed to plan his letter well beforehe typed it.
The following letter is designed to illustrate the position of each part mentioned above:
① ShenzhenChiwan Petroleum Supply Base Co., Ltd
Add.14F Chiwan Petroleum Building Shekou
Shenzhen China 518068
Tel.86-755-26694211
Fax.86-755-26694227 86-755-26699989
E-mail:webmaster@chiwanbase.com
② Your ref: Our ref: bw/bw Date: 7th March, 2017
③Messers. J.Brown & Co.
London, E. C. 3.
④Attention:Import Dept.
⑤Dear Sirs,
⑥Oil Tools
⑦We thank you for your letter of March 4th, 2017.
我们感谢你方2017年3月4日的来信。
In compliance with your request, we are sending you herewith a copy of our latest price list for your reference.
按照你方的要，我们寄给你方一份我们最新的价格单供你方参考。
All prices are understood to be CIF European Main Ports, subject to our final confirmation.
所有的价格是CIF欧洲主要港口价格，以我方最终确认为准。
Payment is to be made by irrevocable Letter of Credit available by draftat sight.
用不可撤销信用证凭即期汇票付款。
As there is a heavy demand for the goods, we suggest that you advise usby E-mail in case of interest.
We are looking forward to your early reply.
由于对该商品需求旺盛，我方建议如果你方对产品感兴趣，请通过电子邮件告知我方。我们期待你方早日回复。
⑧Yoursfaithfully,
⑨ Chiwan Petroleum Supply Base
（Signed）…
Jiang yitian
Manager
⑩ Encl. asstated
, CC. our Branch Officein Hong Kong
- P.S. Your letter of March 5th hasjust come to hand. As requested, we will airmail you two samples tomorrow.
2. Format of Foreign Trade Correspondence
1）Full-block Format 全齐头式
In the full-block format, all lines begin atthe left margin. There is no indention in the letter at all. This format issimple, easy to type, and is often used in business letters.
| Letterhead Date Inside address ______________ Salutation Body of letter ________________________________________________________________________ Complimentary close
Signature |
2）Semi-block Format 半齐头式
Complimentary close and signature begin to theright of the centre of the paper. All the other elements are blocked againstthe left margin.
| Letterhead Date Inside address ______________ Salutation Body of letter ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Complimentary close
Signature |
3）Conventional Format 传统式
The difference between this format and thesemi-block format is that it takes four spaces in the first line of eachparagraph of the body letter. The positions of other elements are quite similarto those in the semi-block.
| Letterhead Date Inside address ______________ Salutation Body of letter __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
Complimentary close
Signature
|
3. Addressing Envelopes
Business envelopes ordinarily have the returnaddress printed in the upper left corner. The receiver’s name and addressshould be typed about half way down the envelope.
The post mark or stamps should be placed in theup right-hand corner, while the bottom left-hand corner is for post notationssuch as “Confidential”, “Secret”, “Printed Matter”, etc.
Here are two samples:
1）Block form 齐头式
| Stamp |
2）Indented form 缩进式
| Stamp |
| Registered |
