Apostille Convention Officially Takes Effect in China

BEIJING - China has officially joined the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention). With China’s accession to The Hague Convention, document legalization procedures between China and approximately 125 contracting states is to be greatly simplified, as foreign documents for use in China will no longer need to undergo multiple rounds of authentication by different authorities. 

It is worth mentioning that only the public documents issued by an authority or official associated with the contracting states are covered by the Apostille Convention. 

The Apostille Convention entered into force for China on November 7, 2023.