CHINA ACCEDES TO THE HAGUE APOSTILLE CONVENTION

[Randy W]

CHINA ACCEDES TO THE HAGUE APOSTILLE CONVENTION

The accession will go into effect on November 7, 2023. 

What this is: China has acceded to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization, as of March 8, 2023. The accession will go into effect on November 7, 2023. 
 
What this means: At that time, documents destined for use in China will no longer require consular legalization. An apostille from the appropriate Secretary of State or the U.S. Department of State should be accepted.

from Cogency Global

The Accession of China to the Hague Apostille Convention will be welcome news to businesses working in China or with Chinese companies. It means they no longer have to rely on the full legalization process to enable documents originating in the US to be authenticated for use in China. This process, required for countries that have not acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention, can be time consuming and difficult, often involving multiple agencies and delays that can last several weeks.   

The Hague Apostille Convention, formally known as the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, is an international treaty that simplifies the process of authenticating public documents for use in other countries. The Convention requires member countries to recognize apostilles as sufficient evidence of the authenticity of the public documents to which they relate. After November 7, authenticating a public document for use in China, or authenticating a Chinese public document, will only require that an apostille is attached by a Competent Authority. In the US, the U.S. Secretary of State, the Secretaries of State for each individual state and the federal courts are all competent authorities. So, for example, to authenticate certified copies of the certificate of incorporation for a Delaware corporation, you will only need to request the copies with an attachment of an apostille for the country of China from the Delaware Secretary of State.  

Edited September 26, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

 . . . and from China Briefing

China Joins Apostille Convention, Simplifying the Use of Foreign Documents

On March 8, 2022, China officially acceded to the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the “Apostille Convention”. China acceded when the Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands Tan Jian submitted the “instrument of accession” on behalf of China to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands, the official custodian of the Apostille Convention. 

I have yet to see any official Chinese sources. The closest to that is this post in the Going to China: Tailor-Made China Tours Facebook group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/going2china/posts/6481683118626671/

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)