Introduction of Consular Legalisation/Apostillisation in China

Documents issued by non-member countries of the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents ( hereafter referred to as "the Apostille Convention") and to be used in Chinese mainland, shall be legalised first by the competent authorities in that country, and then be legalised by the Chinese embassies or consulates there.

Documents issued by member countries of the Apostille Convention, can be used in Chinese mainland directly after being apostillised by the competent authorities.

In line with the Apostille Convention and Chinese regulation, documents issued by Chinese agencies can be used in the member countries of the Apostille Convention directly after being apostillised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (hereafter referred to as "MFA") or authorized Foreign Affairs Offices of local governments ( hereafter referred to as "FAOs") . 

Documents issued by Chinese agencies to be used in non-member countries of the Apostille Convention, in general, shall be legalised first by MFA or authorized FAOs, and then be legalised by the embassies or consulates of those countries in China.

Generally, documents required for Consular Legalisation/Apostillisation are as follows: Certificate of birth, death and marriage, non-criminal record, kinship, academic qualification, professional qualification, declaration paper, entrustment paper, power of attorney, articles of association, certification of inspection and quarantine of animals or plants, certificate of origin, invoice, and other notarial certificates, etc.. These documents are issued by Chinese notary public offices, Chinese customs, and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).