The Convention on the Cancellation of the Certification Requirements for Foreign Official Documents will come into effect in China on November 7, 2023.

Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that on March 8, Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands, Mr. Tan Tran, on behalf of the Chinese side, formally submitted the instrument of accession to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the custodian of the Convention on the Elimination of the Requirement for the Authentication of Foreign Public Documents, which marks China's formal accession to the Convention. The Convention will enter into force on November 7, 2023 in China. The Convention is the international treaty with the widest scope of application and the largest number of contracting parties under the framework of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, which aims to simplify the procedure of transnational circulation of public documents. from November 7, public documents sent by China to other contracting parties can be sent to other contracting parties for use by applying for the Apostille provided for in the Convention without the need to apply for consular authentication by the embassies and consulates of China and the contracting parties. There is no need to apply for consular certification by the embassies and consulates of China and the Contracting States in China. For official documents of other Contracting States to be sent to Mainland China for use, it is only necessary to apply for the Apostille of that State, and there is no need to apply for consular authentication by that State and the Chinese Embassy or Consulate in the local area. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China is the competent authority for additional certificates under the Convention and issues additional certificates for official documents issued within its territory. Entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Affairs Offices of the People's Governments of the relevant provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, as well as the Foreign Affairs Offices of the People's Governments of some municipalities, may issue additional certificates for public documents issued within their administrative regions. For specific procedures and requirements for applying for additional certificates, please visit the China Consular Service website (http://cs.mfa.gov.cn) or the websites of the relevant local foreign affairs offices. China's additional certificates will be issued in the form of a sticker with a silver-colored seal of the national emblem. The Certificate of Attachment issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and the relevant local foreign affairs offices supports online verification, which can be found at http://consular.mfa.gov.cn/VERIFY/. Those residing abroad can check the official websites of Chinese embassies and consulates in their localities for relevant information. Mao Ning said that the main role of the Convention was to simplify procedures for the transnational circulation of official documents and to facilitate international trade and economic and personnel exchanges. Accession to the Convention is an important step for China to expand the opening up of the system in the field of circulation of foreign-related documents, which will bring two major dividends: First, it will significantly reduce the time and economic costs of transnational circulation of documents. For ordinary citizens, this means that they can more conveniently and quickly apply for health certificates, driver's license certificates, degree certificates, household registration certificates and other documents that they may need overseas. After joining the Convention, the time for completing an instrument for use abroad can be reduced from about 20 working days to a few working days, and the cost will also be significantly reduced. Each year, more than 300 million yuan will be saved for Chinese and foreign personnel and enterprises in the cost of applying for documents. On average, the time required for the circulation of documents between States Parties will be reduced by about 90%. Secondly, the business environment will be optimized. After accession to the treaty, foreign enterprises intending to invest in and export to China will not need to apply for consular certification for commercial documents, and more than 70 percent of the commercial documents involved in China's export trade will also benefit from this. "China looks forward to working with all parties to jointly promote the smooth implementation of the Convention and further facilitate international economic and trade and people-to-people exchanges." Mao Ning said.