Formal Emails in Chinese: 4 Traps That Instantly Reveal You're Not a Native

I've graded hundreds of business emails from English speakers writing in Chinese, and the same four mistakes show up almost every time. The grammar is fine. The vocabulary is fine. What gives people away is the register — the social temperature of the words. Chinese business writing lives and dies by small formulas, and when you skip them, readers don't think "foreigner." They think "rude" or "too casual for this relationship." Today I want to walk you through the four traps I see most, starting with the very first line.

Trap 1: The greeting that's too friendly

English emails often start with "Hi" or "Hey" — and learners carry that habit straight into Chinese. The problem is that 嗨 and 你好 are for people you already know well. To a client, a government office, or a senior colleague you've never met, that opening reads as careless.

The safe formal opener is 尊敬的 followed by the person's title and surname. If you don't know the name, 尊敬的女士/先生 works. Notice that 尊敬的 already means "respected," so you don't add 亲爱的 on top — that combination sounds like a wedding invitation.

Trap 2: Forgetting 您 and the polite request frame

This is the trap that stings the most, because it's invisible to English speakers. English has one "you." Chinese has two: 你 and 您. In a formal email, 您 is not optional — it's the baseline. Using 你 with a client reads like you're talking to a subordinate.

The second half of this trap is the request itself. English softens with "Could you please…" Chinese softens with 麻烦您 or 请您. Dropping straight to an imperative — 你给我发一下 — is the written equivalent of pointing at someone.

Trap 3: The sign-off nobody teaches

Most textbooks teach 再见 and stop there. In a real business email, 再见 at the end looks like you're closing a phone call. Formal Chinese letters end with a fixed pair: 此致 on its own line, then 敬礼 on the next. For commercial correspondence, 顺颂商祺 is the polished choice — it literally wishes the recipient prosperous business.