Chinese Press Release Format and Template: The Structure Editors Expect
Send a Chinese-language release written to an English structure and it comes back. Editors here read for a headline that fits one line, a lead that answers five questions in two sentences, and a body that can be cut from the bottom.
Key takeaways
- The Chinese press release template has four blocks in a fixed order: a 16–25 character headline, a 100–150 character lead answering who, what, when, where and why, a 400–800 character body, and a 50–200 character boilerplate.
- Total length usually lands between 600 and 1,200 Chinese characters; releases past roughly 1,500 characters get cut by the editor, and the cut is chosen by the editor rather than by you.
- Headlines work as subject, verb and object and must avoid exclamation marks and superlatives, which attract compliance queries under China's advertising rules.
- Write the body in descending order of importance with one idea per paragraph, so the release can be shortened from the bottom up without losing its meaning.
- Prepare simplified characters for mainland-facing publications and a separate traditional-character version for other Chinese-language audiences rather than converting one file automatically.
The Chinese press release format and template that mainland editors work with is not a translation of the English one. It is shorter, it front-loads the five elements into the first one or two sentences, and it treats everything after paragraph three as optional. A release written to the Chinese template passes review quickly; a release written in English structure with Chinese vocabulary inside is read as a document that has not been prepared for this market.
This is a working template. It covers the four blocks, the length limits that editors actually apply, and the conventions that get copy returned when they are ignored.
Chinese press release format and template: the four blocks
Every release that gets published cleanly has these four blocks in this order. Lengths below are working ranges drawn from the editorial guidance that circulates inside Chinese media and PR training material; treat them as strong defaults rather than laws.
| Block | Working length | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|
| Headline (标题) | 16–25 Chinese characters | Subject, verb and object, with the most concrete fact first. One line on a mobile screen. |
| Lead (导语) | About 100–150 characters | Who, what, when, where and why, in one paragraph, before any background at all. |
| Body (正文) | 400–800 characters, in two or three paragraphs | Detail in descending order of importance, one idea per paragraph, then a quotation. |
| Boilerplate (公司简介) | 50–200 characters | Legal entity name, what the company does, founding year, headquarters, and an editorial contact. |
Total length lands between roughly 600 and 1,200 Chinese characters for most corporate announcements. Releases that run past 1,500 characters are commonly cut by the editor — and once an editor cuts, the part they remove is chosen for them, not for you.
Headline: count characters, not words
The headline is the whole release in miniature, and it is the block that most often gets rewritten without asking. Three rules cover most of it.
Keep it to about 16 to 25 characters. That is roughly one line on a mobile screen. Longer headlines get truncated at the point where the reader would have learned something, and Chinese search results and news feeds both truncate aggressively.
Use subject, verb, object. Name the company or the product, state the action, name the outcome or partner. A headline that reads "某某公司发布某某产品，效率提升30%" is doing its job. A headline that reads "重磅！某某公司再创辉煌" is an advertisement and will be treated as one.
Leave out exclamation marks and superlatives. Punctuation such as "!" and superlative formulations are the fastest route to a compliance query, because China's advertising rules restrict absolute claims and comparison language. The mechanics of that restriction are covered in why Chinese media reject press releases, and they apply to the headline before they apply to anything else.
The lead paragraph: five elements, one breath
The lead must answer who, what, when, where and why inside its first two sentences. In practice, Chinese leads usually open with the time and place in a fixed pattern — date, city, then subject and event — because that is how readers expect news to begin and how editors were trained to write it.
Two conventions are worth copying directly. First, the lead contains no background; the reader should be able to stop after it and still know what happened. Second, the lead mentions the significance once, briefly, and stops. Long explanations of "why this matters" belong in the body, where they can be cut without damaging the story.
Body: inverted pyramid, one idea per paragraph
Write the body in descending order of importance so the release can be shortened from the bottom up without losing its meaning. Two or three paragraphs is the norm: the first carries the substance of the announcement, the second carries detail, evidence or a product parameter, and the third carries a quotation from a named executive or partner.
The paragraph-level rule that matters most is one idea per paragraph. Chinese editors frequently lift a single paragraph into a different slot or a shorter format, and a paragraph that mixes two ideas cannot be lifted at all.
Quotes, titles and attribution etiquette
Quotations carry more formal weight in Chinese business writing than they do in English releases, and the etiquette around them is stricter.
- Full job titles on first mention. Give the company, then the person's name, then the complete title. Shorten afterwards.
- Written approval before submission. A quotation from a named executive is expected to have been signed off. Unapproved quotes stall at review, and the delay is measured in days.
- Quote the substance, not the mood. A sentence that states a strategy, a figure or a commitment is usable. Enthusiastic sentiment without content gets deleted, because the editor has to defend the quotation internally.
- Attribute with the standard verbs. The neutral formulation for "said" is what a Chinese release uses. Avoid dramatic alternatives; they read as commentary rather than reporting.
Names, numbers and the boilerplate
Three details cause more corrections than any stylistic question. Use the company's full legal entity name on first mention and the short brand name afterwards, and be consistent between the headline, the lead and the boilerplate. Always attach a unit and a currency to every number, and state the period the number covers. Finally, the boilerplate is not decoration: it is where the editor confirms what the company is, and a missing or vague one is read as a sign that the submission was not prepared.
Character set and market
Mainland-facing publications use simplified characters, and a release written in traditional characters will be converted before it goes out — sometimes badly, with the wrong word chosen in context. Where a campaign also targets Chinese-language audiences outside the mainland, prepare a separate traditional-character version rather than asking one file to serve both. Do not submit a machine translation as the primary text. Editors notice, and the phrasing errors concentrate in exactly the parts that carry the announcement.
A fill-in template you can copy
[Headline — 16–25 characters, subject + verb + object, no exclamation marks] [Legal entity name][date][city] — [what happened, in one sentence, with the single most concrete fact]. [Why it matters, in one clause]. [Body paragraph 1 — the substance of the announcement: what launched, for whom, at what price or scale, available when.] [Body paragraph 2 — evidence: a figure with its period and unit, a certification, a partner, or a product parameter.] "[Approved quotation from a named executive, with full job title on first mention.]" [Body paragraph 3, optional — next steps, availability, or a scheduled event.] About [legal entity name]: [what the company does], founded in [year], headquartered in [city]. [One line on scale — staff, offices or clients.] Media contact: [name], [email], [phone].
Fill it in before you translate anything. It is much easier to compress an English draft into this skeleton than to repair a Chinese draft that was never structured this way. The wider craft of writing for Chinese editors — voice, evidence, and what to leave out — is in how to write a Chinese press release, and translation-specific choices are covered in press release translation and localisation.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a Chinese press release be? Most corporate announcements land between 600 and 1,200 Chinese characters in total: a 16–25 character headline, a lead of about 100–150 characters, a body of 400–800 characters in two or three paragraphs, and a boilerplate of 50–200 characters. Anything beyond about 1,500 characters tends to be cut by the editor.
Should the headline include the company name? Yes, in most cases. Chinese headlines work best as subject, verb and object, and the subject is usually the company or the product. Putting the company name first also helps the release surface in searches on the brand itself, which is often the most valuable traffic an announcement produces.
Can I use exclamation marks or superlatives in a Chinese press release? No. Exclamation marks and absolute claims are treated as advertising language and attract compliance queries under China's advertising rules. State a number, a date or a fact instead of a superlative, and the same sentence becomes publishable.
Should I write in simplified or traditional characters? Simplified characters for mainland-facing publications. If the campaign also targets Chinese-language audiences outside the mainland, prepare a separate traditional-character version rather than sending one file for both, because automatic conversion picks the wrong word in context more often than people expect.
Do I need written approval for quotations? Effectively yes. A quotation attributed to a named executive is expected to have been approved before submission. Unapproved quotes are one of the most common reasons a release stalls at review for several days.
Before you send it
Check the headline stays on one line, confirm the lead answers all five questions before it mentions any background, and read the body from the last paragraph upwards to confirm that each cut still leaves a complete story. If the text survives those three tests, the format is doing its job. A short pre-submission checklist like this is faster than any review cycle, and it is the reason some campaigns publish in hours while others spend a week in a queue.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a Chinese press release be?
Most announcements land between 600 and 1,200 Chinese characters in total: a 16–25 character headline, a lead of about 100–150 characters, a body of 400–800 characters in two or three paragraphs, and a boilerplate of 50–200 characters. Beyond roughly 1,500 characters editors start cutting.
Should the headline include the company name?
Yes, in most cases. Chinese headlines read best as subject, verb and object, and the subject is normally the company or product. Leading with the company name also helps the release surface in searches on the brand itself.
Can I use exclamation marks or superlatives in a Chinese press release?
No. Exclamation marks and absolute claims are treated as advertising language and attract compliance queries under China's advertising rules. Replacing a superlative with a number, a date or a verifiable fact makes the same sentence publishable.
Should I write in simplified or traditional characters?
Simplified characters for mainland-facing publications. If the campaign also targets Chinese-language audiences outside the mainland, prepare a separate traditional-character version instead of relying on automatic conversion.
Do I need written approval for quotations?
Effectively yes. A quotation attributed to a named executive is expected to be approved before submission, and unapproved quotes are one of the most common causes of a multi-day delay at review.