Need to write a letter to Chinese business partners? Do you need to order goods or find out the terms of cooperation? Let us advise you on how to make your address polite and correct.

Recently, for well-known reasons, our state has been turning to the East, and Russian business has gradually started to turn in the same direction.

Politeness is the best weapon of … business

More and more of our regular customers send catalogs, manuals, customs declarations for translation from Chinese, Turkish, Hindi. And vice versa, presentations and contracts now more often require translation into the official languages of friendly partners from the Middle and Far East.

The greatest activity is observed in the Chinese direction. In addition to shipping documents, business correspondence is also translated, including official and e-mail letters, and today we will talk about them.

To be more precise, we are going to talk about how these letters are addressed to Chinese partners.

To write this article, we asked for help from our customers from Chinese companies, and Chinese translators willingly helped us, so the information, so to speak, is first-hand.

In Eastern culture, especially in Chinese culture, much attention is paid to formal, sometimes even ceremonial ways of showing respect. One of them is addressing the interlocutor.

Without paying due attention to polite communication, you can not achieve the goal of establishing contact and seriously embarrassed in the society of the East.

So, how to address a business partner from China at the first contact, in the first letters or messages.

Chinese names and surnames

If the name and surname of the desired person are known, this should definitely be used when addressing. The key point is that it is not a bad idea to know both the first and last name. Let’s explain why.

Even among acquaintances, not friends-buddies, but acquaintances, the polite form of address consists of the surname and first name, and only in this sequence. It is important.

In Russian, “Dear Ivan Petrov” and “Dear Petrov Ivan” are equivalent variants. In Chinese, “Dear Deng Xiaoping” and “Dear Xiaoping Deng” are addresses to two different people. With the name of a prominent Chinese statesman everything is intuitively clear, as it is on the ear even for the uninitiated in the life of China. But with an addressee named, for example, Wang Li, an awkward situation is very likely, as an uninformed person can easily write “Li Wang” in the address.

It is impolite to address a resident of China by first name only, it is accepted only in the circle of friends and relatives.

It would be rash to call a business partner from China only by his surname. But if you can emphasize the social status, position or personal achievements of the interlocutor, then the options “Director Wang”, “Dr. Zhang”, “Teacher Xiang” will be very successful.

If it happens that only the surname is known, then a neutral and polite option would be “Mr. Wang”.

Some of the representatives of Chinese business circles, when communicating with foreigners, call themselves by names from the corresponding language environment: Sveta, Lesha, Alex. There is an opinion that this is done in order not to hear a mangled Chinese name and surname from the lips of a foreigner. Therefore, it is better to know the real name of the interlocutor and pronounce it correctly, without distortions, it will be polite and far-sighted.

Another subtle point in first and last names is how you yourself will introduce yourself. We do not encourage you to mirror this issue and, for example, to sign Ivan as Wang and Sasha as Xiang. This is too bold a step, which if it can be done, it should be done in an appropriate situation and after deep acquaintance with the culture and modern trends in China.

By using short names such as Sasha, Kolya, Kostya, you will not only curtsy to the Chinese interlocutor, but also distinguish yourself from other Alexanders and Alexanders Timofeyevichs. Why curtsy? The articulation apparatus of the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire is not accustomed to sounding “Konstantin Konstantinovich” or “Emmanuel Polikarpovich”, and pronunciation of such long words with so many consonants will inevitably cause discomfort. And this is not a goal worth achieving at all, right?

It is noticed that some of our compatriots ingeniously simplify this complex phonetic mishap. They sign not only with a short name, but also write in Latin: Alex, Pavel, Ivan.

The best option at the first acquaintance is to indicate your surname, first name and patronymic in full, at the same time immediately offering your interlocutor for convenience your short name in Cyrillic or Latin.

Translation into Chinese – a win-win option

Of course, we couldn’t ignore this question: in what language is it better to write your first letter or message?

If you have the opportunity to write a letter in literate Chinese, it is the best option.

A presentation translated in Google translator or by a student will be perceived as a lack of seriousness of intentions or even an insult. Chinese translation is better done in advance. It’s one thing to translate a short letter on a Friday night, but another thing to translate a 125-page catalog. Consult with specialists to find out how long it takes to translate a commercial proposal or price list into Chinese. It is better to move the deadline than to send a hastily translated text.

A cheaper and less presentable option is translation into English. In China, business circles know English quite well, as English-speaking countries have established impressive trade and industrial ties with the Celestial Empire, and Europe and Asia mainly “communicate” in English. At the same time, a letter in English can be perceived as inexperience of a partner in the Chinese market.

It is possible to write a letter in Russian only if there is reliable information that the addressee knows Russian, and there are no funds to hire a professional translator. Russia is just beginning to scale its activity in China, so Russian is less widespread there, and a letter in Russian may go unanswered.

Don’t take the risk, a professional Chinese or English translator will cost no more than a missed opportunity. It is not difficult to find translators either, contact a translation agency, they will definitely help you there.