Best practices for Chinese professionals writing formal emails in English

To address best practices for Chinese professionals writing formal emails in English, relevant insights were found focusing on sociolinguistic competence, cultural communication differences, and formal email etiquette among non-native English speakers:

• Chinese professionals should aim for clear, polite, and well-structured emails that adhere to formal English writing conventions. This helps ensure the message is respectful and professional without unintentionally causing offense, which can happen due to cultural and linguistic differences.

• Key practical tips include framing issues positively, using indirect language and hedging to soften requests or criticisms, and selecting an appropriate level of formality depending on the recipient and context. These strategies help maintain a courteous tone and create rapport in professional communication.

• Understanding cultural distinctions in politeness and address terms is crucial. Chinese communication often emphasizes social hierarchy, respect, and indirectness, which may differ from Western norms. Adapting to these differences by using English expressions suited for formal business emails aids effective intercultural communication.

• Following basic structural elements (salutation, concise intro, clear purpose, polite closing) combined with sociolinguistic awareness builds confidence and professionalism in email writing for Chinese professionals working in global settings.

These points are synthesized from studies on English correspondence for Chinese non-native speakers, cultural communication differences, and business email etiquette training. ^{1, 2, 3, 4}

References

• Writing letters and emails in English: correspondence for the editorial office

• Chinese English in as lingua franca in global business setting: A case study of ongoing emails of a foreign company in China

• Politeness Principle in Cross-Culture Communication

• Cultural Differences of Politeness in English and Chinese

• Case-Based Training on Best Practices in Effective Test Utilization for Clinical Laboratories: A Comparison of Two Educational Formats

• A Course in Best Practices in Scientific Writing and Oral Presentation in English for Chinese Graduate Students in Engineering and the Life Sciences

• Best practices for home nutritional management in postoperative gastric cancer patients: an evidence summary

• Current State and Proposal of Best Practices of Standardized Patients for Spanish-Language Objective Structured Clinical Encounters in US Medical Schools

• Best Practices of Language Teachers Towards Professional Development: Challenges, Changes, and Reflections

• A Study of Chinese Translation of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language from the Perspective of Grammatical Metaphor

• Effectiveness of formal onboarding for facilitating organizational socialization: A systematic review

• The Best Method for English Teaching: The Appropriate One

• Professional Development Patterns of Saudi, Chinese, and Korean EFL Teachers: A Comparative Review and Call for International Collaboration

• The Translation of Address Terms in Showing Politeness from Chinese into English

• Proposing Chinese English as a lingua franca (ChELF)

• Cultural Differences in Chinese and American Address Forms

• Cultural Identity in China English as a Variety of English

• Chinese Text De-Colloquialization Technique Based on Back-Translation Strategy and End-to-End Learning

• Formal e-mails

• Exploring the functionality of English in China: A tale of two cities

• COVID-19-Combating English with Chinese Characteristics in the CAT’s Translations

• Politeness in Business Writing: The Effects of Ethnicity and Relating Factors on Email Communication

• China English and ELT for English Majors

• Relational Ritual Politeness and Self-display in Historical Chinese Letters

• Language practice in the multilingual workplace: A Confucius Institute in Macau

• Role of Email in Intercultural Communication of Criticism in a Chinese English Curriculum Reform Context