How to Write an Email in Chinese: Format, Greetings, Sign-Offs, and 6 Templates

沉浸 TeamSeptember 11, 20269 min read

Here's how to write an email in Chinese in one screen: open with the person's name plus a title and 您好 (nín hǎo), state who you are and why you're writing in the first two lines, make your request with 麻烦您 (máfan nín, "may I trouble you to") or 请问 (qǐngwèn), close with 期待您的回复 (qīdài nín de huífù, "looking forward to your reply"), and sign off with 祝好 (zhù hǎo) and your name. That covers 90% of emails. The rest of this guide gives you the full format, the greetings and sign-offs for every level of formality, the mistakes learners make, and six templates you can copy and edit.

Chinese email is more formal than English email at the start and the end, and just as direct in the middle. The trick is getting the frame right: title, greeting, and closing. Get those three right and a slightly clumsy middle is forgiven. For the everyday phrases inside the body, our essential Chinese phrases guide is the companion piece.

The standard Chinese email format

Subject line (主题 zhǔtí). Short and specific: 关于下周会议的安排 (about next week's meeting arrangements), 申请实习 (internship application), 请假申请 (leave request). Chinese subject lines often start with 关于 (guānyú, "regarding").
Salutation. Name + title, on its own line, ending with a colon or a comma. See the greetings section below.
Opening line. 您好！ on its own line, then who you are if the reader might not know.
Body. Purpose first, details second, request last. Short paragraphs.
Closing line. A thank-you or a "looking forward" line.
Sign-off. A wish (祝好 or 祝 + something), then your name, then the date.

That's the same skeleton as a formal English email. The differences are in the exact phrases, so let's go through them.

Chinese email greetings (how to address people)

Never use a bare first name to someone you don't know well. Chinese addresses people by surname plus a title, and the title does the politeness work.

尊敬的王教授： (Zūnjìng de Wáng jiàoshòu) "Respected Professor Wang." 尊敬 is the most formal opener. Use it for professors, officials, and anyone senior you're writing to for the first time.
王老师： (Wáng lǎoshī) "Teacher Wang." 老师 works for teachers and, in academic settings, for almost any senior colleague.
李经理： (Lǐ jīnglǐ) "Manager Li." Job titles like 经理, 主任 (zhǔrèn, director), and 总 (zǒng, short for general manager, as in 张总) are standard in business.
张先生 / 张女士： (Zhāng xiānsheng / Zhāng nǚshì) Mr. / Ms. Zhang. Use these when you don't know the person's job title. Note that 小姐 (xiǎojiě, "Miss") is best avoided in mainland business email.
各位同事： (Gèwèi tóngshì) "Dear colleagues," for a group. 各位 + a noun covers any group: 各位老师, 各位同学.
小明： or 亲爱的小明： For a friend, the name alone is fine. 亲爱的 (qīn'ài de, "dear") is warmer and mostly used between close friends, family, or partners.

After the salutation line comes 您好！ (formal) or 你好！ (casual) on the next line. If you're writing to more than one person, 大家好！ (dàjiā hǎo, "hello everyone"). Our post on Chinese greetings covers the spoken versions.

Opening lines: who you are and why you're writing

我是… (wǒ shì…) "I am…" followed by your name and role: 我是北京大学的交换生李明 (I'm Li Ming, an exchange student at Peking University).
冒昧打扰， (màomèi dǎrǎo) "Forgive me for the intrusion," the polite way to open a cold email to someone senior.
感谢您的来信。 (gǎnxiè nín de láixìn) "Thank you for your email," when replying.
关于…，我想… (guānyú…, wǒ xiǎng…) "Regarding…, I would like to…" The workhorse purpose sentence: 关于下周的面试，我想确认一下时间 (Regarding next week's interview, I'd like to confirm the time).
好久不见！最近怎么样？ (hǎojiǔ bú jiàn! zuìjìn zěnmeyàng?) "Long time no see! How have you been?" For friends only.

Making requests politely

This is where learners get too blunt or too flowery. The middle path is a soft verb plus a clear ask.

请问… (qǐngwèn) "May I ask…" for any question: 请问报名截止日期是什么时候？ (May I ask when the registration deadline is?)
麻烦您… (máfan nín) "Could I trouble you to…": 麻烦您把文件发给我 (Could you please send me the file).
烦请… (fánqǐng) A more formal version of 麻烦, common in business: 烦请查收附件 (Please find the attachment).
能否… (néngfǒu) "Would it be possible to…": 能否把会议改到周四？ (Could the meeting be moved to Thursday?)
请见附件。/ 附件是… (qǐng jiàn fùjiàn / fùjiàn shì…) "Please see the attachment" / "The attachment is…". 附件 is the word for attachment.
如有任何问题，请随时联系我。 (rú yǒu rènhé wèntí, qǐng suíshí liánxì wǒ) "If you have any questions, please contact me anytime." A near-universal closing sentence.

Chinese email sign-offs (closing lines and wishes)

Chinese emails end with a wish. The wish is usually two parts: 祝 (zhù, "wishing") and the thing wished. The most common ones:

祝好 (zhù hǎo) "Best wishes." Safe for everyone, formal or not. If you learn one sign-off, learn this.
祝工作顺利 (zhù gōngzuò shùnlì) "Wishing you smooth work." For colleagues and business contacts.
祝学习进步 (zhù xuéxí jìnbù) "Wishing you progress in your studies." From a teacher to a student.
祝身体健康 (zhù shēntǐ jiànkāng) "Wishing you good health." For elders.
顺祝商祺 (shùn zhù shāngqí) "With best business regards." Formal business only; it looks odd in a casual email.
此致敬礼 (cǐzhì jìnglǐ) "With respect." The traditional letter closing: 此致 at the end of the last paragraph, then 敬礼 on its own line. Used in formal letters and official emails, less in everyday ones.
谢谢！ A plain 谢谢 is fine for a quick reply among colleagues.

Then your name, and in formal emails your organization and the date (年月日 order: 2026年9月10日). Traditional letter layout puts 祝 on one line and the wish indented on the next, but in email most people write it on one line.

Formal vs informal: the same email two ways

Asking a teacher to reschedule a meeting:

Formal: 尊敬的王老师：您好！我是您周三口语课的学生李明。因为周四上午有考试，能否将我们的见面时间改到周五下午？给您添麻烦了，非常抱歉。期待您的回复。祝好！李明

Informal (to a classmate): 小张，周四早上我有考试，我们改到周五下午见面行吗？谢啦！

Notice what changed: the title, 您 versus 你, 能否 versus 行吗, the apology line, and the sign-off. The actual request is the same.

Six Chinese email templates

1. Email to a professor or teacher (formal inquiry)

尊敬的陈教授：
您好！冒昧打扰。我是[学校]的[年级]学生[姓名]，对您在[领域]的研究很感兴趣。请问您今年是否招收研究生？如果方便的话，能否安排时间和您简单交流一下？
附件是我的简历，烦请查收。
期待您的回复。
祝身体健康，工作顺利！
[姓名]
[日期]

(Respected Professor Chen: Hello! Forgive the intrusion. I'm [name], a [year] student at [school], and I'm very interested in your research in [field]. May I ask whether you're taking graduate students this year? If convenient, could we arrange a short conversation? My résumé is attached. Looking forward to your reply. Wishing you good health and smooth work.)

2. Job application cover email

尊敬的招聘负责人：
您好！我在[网站]上看到贵公司招聘[职位]，特此申请。我毕业于[学校][专业]，有[数字]年[领域]经验，[一句话说明优势]。
附件是我的简历和求职信，请查收。
如有任何问题，请随时联系我。期待有机会进一步沟通。
顺祝商祺！
[姓名]
[电话]

(Dear hiring manager: I saw your company's posting for [position] on [site] and am writing to apply. I graduated from [school] in [major] and have [N] years of experience in [field], [one-line strength]. My résumé and cover letter are attached. Please contact me with any questions. Looking forward to talking further. Best business regards.)

3. Work email to a colleague (requesting a document)

王姐：
你好！关于下周的项目汇报，麻烦你把最新的数据表发给我一下，最好今天下班前。谢谢！
祝工作顺利！
小李

(Wang-jie: Hi! For next week's project report, could you send me the latest data sheet, ideally before end of day? Thanks! Wishing you smooth work.) Note the 姐 (jiě, "older sister") after the surname: a friendly workplace address for a slightly older female colleague.

4. Apology email for a delay

李经理：
您好！非常抱歉，由于[原因]，报告没能按时交付。我会在[日期]前完成并发给您。给您带来的不便，敬请谅解。
祝好！
[姓名]

(Manager Li: I'm very sorry that, due to [reason], the report was not delivered on time. I will finish it and send it to you by [date]. Please forgive the inconvenience.) 抱歉 (bàoqiàn) is the standard written apology; 谅解 (liàngjiě) means understanding.

5. Thank-you email

张老师：
您好！非常感谢您昨天抽时间和我见面，您的建议对我帮助很大。我会认真考虑您提到的几点。再次感谢！
祝一切顺利！
[姓名]

(Teacher Zhang: Thank you so much for taking the time to meet yesterday; your advice helped a lot. I'll think carefully about the points you raised. Thanks again! Wishing you all the best.)

6. Informal email to a friend or host family

亲爱的刘阿姨：
好久不见！我回国以后一切都好，就是很想念您做的饺子。这个学期我还在学中文，进步了一点点。您和叔叔身体好吗？有空的话给我回信！
祝您健康快乐！
Anna

(Dear Auntie Liu: Long time no see! Everything's been fine since I got home, I just miss your dumplings. I'm still studying Chinese this semester and have improved a little. How are you and Uncle? Write back when you have time! Wishing you health and happiness!)

Common mistakes in Chinese emails

Using 你 with someone senior. Use 您 (nín) for teachers, bosses, clients, and strangers. Switch to 你 only when they do.
Translating "Dear" as 亲爱的 in business. 亲爱的 reads as "darling." Use 尊敬的 or just the name and title.
Skipping the wish at the end. An email that ends on the request feels abrupt. Even 祝好 fixes it.
Over-apologizing. One 抱歉 or 打扰了 is polite. Three is strange.
English punctuation. Chinese uses full-width marks: ，。！？：and the pause comma 、. Our Chinese keyboard guide shows how to type them.
Writing 小姐 to a businesswoman. Use 女士 or her title.

The fastest way to sound natural in writing is to read a lot of natural writing. Chenjin's graded stories are full of the letters, messages, and dialogues these phrases come from, with every word one tap from its meaning, and you can save phrases like 期待您的回复 straight into flashcards. A free account is all you need to start.

FAQ

How do you start an email in Chinese?

Name and title on the first line (尊敬的王老师：), then 您好！ on the next line, then who you are and why you're writing.

How do you end an email in Chinese?

A closing sentence like 期待您的回复 or 谢谢, then a wish such as 祝好 or 祝工作顺利, then your name and the date.

What does 此致敬礼 mean?

It's the traditional formal letter closing, roughly "with respect" or "sincerely." 此致 ends the body and 敬礼 goes on the next line. It's most common in official letters and applications.

Is a Chinese letter format different from an email?

Barely. A paper letter indents the first line of each paragraph two characters, puts 此致 and 敬礼 on separate lines, and places the name and date at the bottom right. Email drops the indents and usually writes the wish on one line.

How do I write the date in Chinese?

Year, month, day: 2026年9月10日. See our days of the week post for the day names.