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Whether the indented style or the blocked style is used is determined by individual taste or by a firm's preferred style，while whatever form is employed，an ordinary business letter consists of seven principle parts：
1. letter-head；
2. date；
3. inside name and address；
4. salutation；
5. message，or the body of the letter；
6. complimentary close；
7. signature and position.
Sometimes your letter might contain some more parts，such as：
8. reference；
9. attention line；
10. subject line；
11. enclosures；
12. carbon copy notation；
13. postscript.
The following letter is designed to illustrate the position of each part mentioned above.
1. The Letter-head （信头）
Letter-head includes the essential particulars about the writer：name and postal address，phone and fax number，also e-mail address.
2. The Date （日期）
The date should be typed or written in full. For the day，either cardinal numbers or ordinal numbers can be used. However，there is a growing tendency to omit the ordinal suffixes（e. g. -st，-nd，-rd and-th）following the day of the month in the date line（e. g. 3 May for 3 rd May）. So the recommended forms for dates are，for examples，as follows：
October 25，20...
Never give the date in figures，for it can easily cause confusion. For instance，“6/5 20...”would mean“May 6，20...”in Britain，but in the United States and some other countries it would be taken as“June 5，20...”.
3. The Inside Name and Address （封内名称和地址）
It is the usual practice to include，in all business letters，the name and complete address of the correspondent or organization for whom the mail is intended. We usually type the inside name and address in blocked paragraph form at the left-hand margin of the letter. This helps to give the letter a tidy appearance.
4. The Salutation （称呼）
The salutation is the complimentary greeting with which every letter begins. Its particular form depends on the writer's relationship with the receiver.
For ordinary business purposes，“Dear Sirs”，“Dear Madams”，“Dear Sir or Madam”or“Gentlemen”is used for addressing for two or more，as where a letter is addressed to a firm. The salutation always appears on a line by itself and followed by a comma for“Dear Sirs”and a colon for“Gentlemen”．e. g. “Dear Sirs，”and“Gentlemen：”．
The trend to use the salutation these days is towards informality，especially if the receiver is known to the writer personally. Hence the warmer greeting such as“Dear Mr. White”is used widely，too.
5. The Message，or the Body of the Letter （正文）
This is the part that really matters. Before you begin to write，you must consider the following two points：
（1）What is your aim in writing this letter？
（2）What is the best way to go about it？
To write business letters effectively，you should be familiar with and follow certain essential qualities of business correspondence，which can be summed up in“3 Cs”：clearness，conciseness and courtesy.
6. The Complimentary Close （结尾敬语）
The complimentary close is merely a polite way of ending a letter. It should match the form of the salutation. The most common sets of salutation and complimentary close are：
Formal：Dear Sirs→Yours faithfully，Gentlemen→Yours truly；
Informal：Sincerely yours，Best regards，Yours，etc.
7. The Signature and Position （签署）
The signature is the signed name or mark of the person writing the letter and taking responsibility for it，or that of the firm he or she represents. Because many hand-written signatures are illegible，the name of the signer is usually typed below the signature and followed by his/her job title or position.
8. The Reference （案号）
The references may include a file number，department code or the initial of the writer. They are marked“Our Ref. ”and“Your Ref. ”to avoid confusion. They may be placed immediately below the letter head and date.
9. The Attention Line （注意事项）
The attention line is used to direct the letter to a specific individual or section of the firm. It generally follows the inside name and address.
10. The Subject Line （事由）
The subject is often inserted between the salutation and the body of the letter to draw the receivers'attention to the topic of the letter.
11. The Enclosure （附件）
Below the two line-spacing of the signature，the writer may indicate one or more enclosures in the letter by following any one of these examples：
Enclosure
Enclosures：3 copies
Enc.
Encl．as stated
12. The Carbon Copy Notation （抄送）
When copies of the letter are sent to others，type“Cc”below the enclosure at the left margin.
Notation for Cc would look like this in your letter：
Cc Guangzhou Branch Office
13. The Postscript （附言）
If the writer wishes to add something he/she forgot to mention，he/she may type his/her after-thought two spaces below the copy notation. Try to avoid using postscripts as far as possible，since it may suggest the writer fails to plan his/her letter before he/she writes it.