Laws of the People's Republic of China

PART I GENERAL RULES

   Article 1. These Regulations are formulated in order to perfect our state notarization system, protect the socialist legal system, prevent disputes and reduce lawsuits.

   Article 2. Notarization means that the state notarial organization, upon the application of a party concerned, certifies according to law the authenticity and legality of a legal act, a document or a fact of legal significance so as to protect public property and a citizen's rights and legitimate interests in status and property.

   Article 3. A notary's office is a state notarial organization. A notary's office shall teach citizens to abide by the law and protect the socialist legal system through the notarization activities.

PART II THE BUSINESS OF A NOTARY'S OFFICE

   Article 4. The business of a notary's office is as follows:

(1) To certify contracts (or agreements), commissions and testaments;

(2) To certify rights of inheritance;

(3) To certify the presentation or separation of property;

(4) To certify adoptive relations;

(5) To certify family relations;

(6) To certify status, record of formal learning or career;

(7) To certify birth, marriage, existence or death;

(8) To prove the signatures and/or seals on documents to be true;

(9) To prove the copies, abbreviated versions, translations or photostat copies of documents to tally with the originals;

(10) To certify the effect of enforcement on the documents used for demanding payment of debts or for claiming compensations if they are considered to be beyond doubt;

(11) To preserve evidence;

(12) To take custody of testaments or other documents;

(13) To draw up the applications for netarization for the parties concerned;

(14) To handle other notarial affairs upon the applications of the parties concerned in accordance with international practice.

PART III THE ORGANIZATION AND LEADERSHIP OF A NOTARY'S OFFICE

   Article 5. A notary's office shall be set up in a municipality directly under the Central Government, a county (or an autonomous county, the same hereinafter) or a city. A notary's office shall also be set up in a district under the jurisdiction of a city with the approval of the judicial administration authorities of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government.

   Article 6. A notary's office shall be under the control of the judicial administration authorities.

There are no subordinate relations between notaries' offices.

   Article 7. A notary's office shall be provided with notaries and assistant notaries. It shall be provided with a director or vice-director(s) as required.

The posts of the director or vice-director(s) shall be held by notaries. The director and/or vice-director(s) shall exercise control over the business of a notary's office and carry out the duties of notaries.

The director, vice-director(s),notaries and assistant notaries shall be appointed or dismissed respectively in accordance with the provisions for the administration of cadres by the people's government of a municipality directly under the Central Government, a county or a city.

   Article 8. A citizen who has the right to vote and to stand for election shall be appointed notary if he or she possesses any of the following qualifications:

(1) Graduation from the law speciality of an institution of higher learning, having passed probation and been engaged in a judicial job or in law teaching or law studies for more than one year;

(2) Service as a judge or a procurator in a people's court or in a people's procuratorate;

(3) Judicial vocational work in judicial administration authorities for more than two years, or work in another state organization, body, enterprise or institution for more than five years, and a knowledge of law equal to that of a graduate from a secondary law school;

(4) The title of assistant notary for more than two years.

   Article 9. A graduate from a higher law instiution or a secondary law school who has passed probation, or a state worker who has the same educational qualification shall be appointed assistant notary.

PART IV JURISDICTION

   Article 10. Notarial affairs shall be under the jurisdiction of the notary's office at the location of the applicant's household register or at the place of occurrence of the legal act or fact.

   Article 11. The notarial affairs relating to the transfer of property shall be under the jurisdiction of the notary's office at the location of the applicant's household register or at the location of the principal property.

   Article 12. If the household registers of a number of applicants for the handling of the same notarial affair are not located within the area under the jurisdiction of a notary's office, or if the property is scattered in a number of areas under the jurisdiction of several notaries' offices, the parties concerned shall consult with each other and make the application to any of the notaries' offices. If the parties concerned fail to reach any agreement, the case shall be put under the jurisdiction of the notaries' offices concerned by means of consultation for the convenience of the people.

   Article 13. If jurisdiction disputes occur between the notaries' offices, their common higher judicial administration authorities shall specify the jurisdiction.

   Article 14. The Ministry of Justice and the judicial administration authorities of each province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the Central Government shall be entitled to assign a certain notarial affair to a certain notary's office.

   Article 15. Our embassies and consulates accredited abroad shall handle notarial affairs at the request of our citizens in the countries where they are accredited.

PART V THE PROCEDURE OF NOTARIZATION

   Article 16. In the application for notarization, the party concerned shall personally go to the notary's office and make a written or verbal application. If someone else is entrusted to do so, he shall present a power of attorney. However, an applicant for the certification by a notary of a commission, statement, adoption of child, testament or signature and seal shall not entrust someone else to act on his behalf; if the party has any real difficulty, the notary shall handle notarization at the party's location.

The state organizations, bodies, enterprises and institutions shall dispatch their representatives to the notaries' offices in making applications for notarization. The representatives shall present powers of attorney.

   Article 17. A notary shall be prohibited from handling the notarial affairs applied for by himself or herself or his or her spouse or his or her own or spouse's close relatives, and also be prohibited from handling the notarial affairs in which he or his or her spouse has interests.

A party concerned shall be entitled to apply for the sidestepping of notaries.

   Article 18. A notary shall examine the status of a party concerned and his or her capacities in the exercise of rights and the fulfilment of obligations; examine whether the facts, documents and related papers of which the party concerned applies for the notarization are true and legal.

   Article 19. When a notary's office considers the evidence supplied by the party concerned to be incomplete or doubtful, it shall be entitled to notify the party to make necessary supplements or make inquiries of the units or individuals concerned and ask for related papers and materials. The units or individuals concerned shall be obliged to give assistance.

   Article 20. A notary shall make notarial deeds in the forms as stipulated or approved by the Ministry of Justice.

   Article 21. A copy of a notarial deed shall be kept on file after its completion. A number of copies shall be made and issued to the party concerned together with the original in accordance with the needs of the party.

   Article 22. A notary's office shall collect fees for handling notarial affairs. The procedures for the collection of notarial fees shall be separately formulated by the Ministry of Justice.

   Article 23. All the notarial affairs handled by the notary's office shall be kept confidential.

   Article 24. Either party concerned shall be entitled to apply to the people's court which has jurisdiction for the enforcement of the credit document which has been notarized by a notary's office to effect enforcement according to Clause (10) of Article 4 when the other party is in breach of the provisions in the said document.

   Article 25. A notary's office shall refuse to notarize untrue and illegal facts and documents. When the notary's office refuses the party's application for notarization, it shall give the party the reasons for the refusal orally or in writing and explain the appeals procedure if he or she disagrees with the reasons of the refusal.

If a party concerned disagrees with the reason of the refusal of a notary's office or considers a notary to have handled his or her application improperly, he or she shall make an appeal to the city or county judicial administration authorities at the location of the office or to higher judicial administration authorities and the authorities concerned shall make a decision.

   Article 26. A notarial deed issued shall be cancelled if it is found to be improper or wrong by the notary's office or the judicial administration authorities at its same level or higher judicial administration authorities.

   Article 27. If a notarial deed applied for by a party concerned is intended to be used abroad, it shall also be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the foreign affairs office of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government and the embassy or consulate of the country concerned in China for attestation, in addition to being handled in the procedure as stipulated in these Regulations. However, these procedures do not apply to those which are otherwise stipulated by the country where the deed(s) is (are) to be sent and used or which are agreed by both parties to be exempt from consular attestations.

PART VI SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

   Article 28. These Regulations shall be applicable to the foreign citizens who live in China.

   Article 29. The Ministry of Justice shall be responsible for the interpretation of these Regulations.

   Article 30. These Regulations shall come into force on the date of promulgation.