（Promulgated¹ by the State Council on April 13， 1982）
颁布日期：19820413 　实施日期：19820413 　颁布单位：国务院

　　Chapter I General Provisions

　　Article 1 These Regulations are formulated² to strengthen and perfect the state notarial³ system， to uphold the socialist⁴ legal system， to prevent disputes and to reduce the number of lawsuit⁵ cases.

　　Article 2 Notarization means that the state notarial department， upon application of any party concerned， gives testimonial， according to law， to the authenticity⁶ and legality of legal actions， legal documents and legal facts， so as to safeguard public properties， and to safeguard citizens' status， and property rights as well as their lawful⁷ interests.

　　Article 3 The notary⁸ office is the state notarial department. The notary office should， through its notarial activities， educate citizens in abiding⁹ by the law and upholding the socialist legal system.

　　Chapter II Scope of Business of Notary Office

　　Article 4 The notary office shall handle the following items of business：

　　（1） to give a testimonial to contracts （legal deeds）， powers of attorney， wills；

　　（2） to give a testimonial to right of inheritance；

　　（3） to give a testimonial to donation of property and to partition of property；

　　（4） to give a testimonial to the relationship of adoption¹⁰；

　　（5） to give a testimonial to family relationship；

　　（6） to give a testimonial to identity （status）， record of education， and personal experience；

　　（7） to give a testimonial to a person's birth， marital¹¹ status， existence and death；

　　（8） to give a testimonial to the authenticity of signatures and seals on documents；

　　（9） to give a testimonial to the conformity¹² of duplicates， abridged¹³ versions， translations， and photo-offset copies to the original；

　　（10） to give a testimonial to the effect of compulsory¹⁴ execution of documents concerning the claim for repayments¹⁵ of debt and articles in the event that such documents are considered to be unequivocal；

　　（11） to be responsible for the preservation¹⁶ of evidence；

　　（12） to be responsible for the safekeeping of wills or other documents；

　　（13） to draft， on behalf of the party concerned， a document of application for a notarial deed；

　　（14） to handle other notarial affairs in accordance with the application of the party concerned and international practice.

　　Chapter III Organization and Leadership of Notary Office

　　Article 5 The notary office shall be set up in municipalities directly under the Central Government， counties （or autonomous¹⁷ counties， and the same below）， and municipalities. With the approval of the judicial¹⁸ administrative¹⁹ authorities of the province， autonomous region and municipality directly under the Central Government， a municipal district may also set up the notary office.

　　Article 6 The notary office shall be under the leadership of the judicial administrative authorities. The subordinative relationship does not exist between notary offices.

　　Article 7 The notary office shall have positions of notary and assistant notary. When necessary， it may have positions of director and deputy director. The positions of director and deputy director shall be assumed by notaries²⁰. The director and deputy director shall direct the work of the notary office， and must also execute the duties of notaries.

　　Directors， deputy directors， notaries， and assistant notaries shall be appointed and removed respectively by the relevant people's government of the municipality directly under the Central Government， of the county， or of the municipality in accordance with the relevant provisions of the administration of cadres.

　　Article 8 Any citizen who has the right to elect and stands for elections and who meet one of the following qualifications may be appointed as a notary：

　　（1） graduates of law specialty²¹ of institutions of higher learning who have passed the probation²²， and have engaged in judicial work， teaching of law， or research in law for 1 year or more；

　　（2） those who have served in a people's court or a people's procuratorate as judges or procurators；

　　（3） those who have engaged in judicial work in the judicial administrative department for 2 years or more， or who have worked in other state departments， public organizations， or enterprises and institutions for 5 years or more， and have the knowledge in law comparable to that of graduates from secondary law schools；

　　（4） those who have served as assistant notaries for 2 years or more.

　　Article 9 Graduates from law schools at the secondary and higher levels who have passed the probation， and government functionaries²³ with the equivalent record of education， may be appointed as assistant notaries.

　　Chapter IV Jurisdiction²⁴

　　Article 10 Notarial affairs shall be under the jurisdiction of the notary office at the locality where the applicant²⁵ has his/her residence registration²⁶， or where legal actions or legal facts have occurred.

　　Article 11 Notarial affairs concerning transfer of properties shall be under the jurisdiction of the notary office at the locality where the applicant has his/her residence registration， or where principal properties are located.

　　Article 12 In the event that a number of persons concerned， who apply for the handling of the same notarial affair， have their residence registration at different localities that do not come under the jurisdiction of one and the same notary office， or the properties are scattered²⁷ in several areas that come under the jurisdiction of different notary offices， these persons concerned may， through consultation²⁸， make their applications to any of those notary offices. In the event that the persons concerned fail to reach an agreement， the different notary offices concerned shall coordinate²⁹ in jurisdiction out of consideration for the convenience of the persons concerned.

　　Article 13 In the event that jurisdictional³⁰ disputes arise among various notary offices， their common superior - the judicial administrative authorities at a higher level shall designate the jurisdiction.

　　Article 14 The Ministry³¹ of Justice and the judicial departments of various provinces， autonomous regions， and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall have the authority to assign a certain notary office to handle a particular notarial affair.

　　Article 15 The embassy or consulate³² of China in a foreign country may handle notarial affairs at the request of a Chinese citizen residing in the foreign country where there is Chinese embassy or consulate.

　　Chapter V Procedures for the Handling of Notarial Affairs

　　Article 16 In applying for notarization， a party concerned shall go to the notary office personally to make an application in writing or verbally. If the application affair is entrusted³³ to an agent， certifying³⁴ documents of the power of attorney shall be presented. However， the application affair shall not be entrusted to an agent if the party concerned applies to the notary office for a testimonial concerning a power of attorney， a statement， adoption of children， a will， or signatures and seals； if the party concerned has true difficulty in making the application， the notary may go to the locality where the party concerned resides， to handle the notarial affairs. In the event that state organs， public organizations， enterprises and institutions apply for notarization， they shall send their representatives to the notary office.

　　The representatives shall present their certifying documents of the power of representation.

　　Article 17 Notaries shall not handle notarial affairs which they themselves or their spouses³⁵， or which the near relatives of themselves or their spouses apply for； in addition， they shall not handle notarial affairs that they themselves or their spouses have interests in. The parties concerned shall have the right to apply for the withdrawal³⁶ of any of the notaries.

　　Article 18 The notaries must examine the status of the parties concerned and their ability to exercise rights and to perform obligations； and must examine the authenticity and legality of the facts， documents and other relevant documents， with regard to all of which the persons concerned are applying for a testimonial.

　　Article 19 In the event that the notary office holds that the evidence provided by the persons concerned is not complete or is doubtful， it has the right to notify the persons concerned that they make necessary additions to complete the evidence， or it may consult the departments or individuals concerned and ask them to provide certifying documents and materials. The departments and individuals concerned shall have the obligation to render assistance.

　　Article 20 Notaries shall prepare notarial documents in accordance with the format³⁷ prescribed or approved by the Ministry of Justice.

　　Article 21 After notarial documents have been processed， an additional copy of the documents shall be kept on file. In accordance with the needs of the persons concerned， duplicates may be prepared， which shall be issued to the persons concerned together with the original documents.

　　Article 22 The notary office shall collect service charges for handling notarial affairs. The measures for collecting notarial service charges shall be formulated by the Ministry of Justice separately.

　　Article 23 The notarial affairs， as handled by the notary office， shall be kept confidential³⁸ by the notaries.

　　Article 24 If one party concerned refuses to act in accordance with the stipulations of the document concerning creditor's rights which has been rendered compulsory by the notary office in accordance with the stipulations of Item 10， Article 4， the other party concerned may apply to a basic people's court which has jurisdiction for execution.

　　Article 25 The notary office shall refuse to give a testimonial to false or illegal statements and documents. When the notary office refuses to accept an application of the party concerned for notarization， it shall explain， verbally or in writing， to the party concerned the reason why his/her application is rejected， and explain also the procedure for making an appeal if the applicant is not satisfied with the rejection³⁹. In the event that the party concerned is not satisfied with the rejection made by the notary office， or thinks that the notary has handled the notarial affair improperly⁴¹， he/she may make an appeal to the municipal or county judicial administrative department at the locality where the notary office is located or to the judicial administrative department at a higher level， and the department that accepts the appeal shall make a decision.

　　Article 26 The notary office， or the judicial administrative department at the same level， or the judicial administrative department at a higher level， shall rescind⁴² a notarial document which has already been issued， if they discover that there are improper⁴⁰ points or mistakes in it.

　　Article 27 In the event that notarial documents， processed in accordance with the application made by the party concerned， are to be sent to a foreign country for use， these notarial documents， apart from being processed in accordance with the procedures as prescribed in this chapter， shall be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， or to the foreign affairs office of the province， autonomous region， or municipality directly under the Central Government， and also to the said foreign country's embassy or consulate in China for confirmation⁴³. However， the aforesaid stipulations shall not apply to such cases where a foreign country in which the notarial documents are to be used prescribes otherwise in its relevant provisions， or where an agreement has been signed between China and the said foreign country on exempting⁴⁴ the aforesaid confirmation of notarial documents.

　　Chapter VI Supplementary⁴⁵ Provisions

　　Article 28 These Regulations shall apply to foreign citizens residing in China.

　　Article 29 The right to interpret these Regulations shall reside in the Ministry of Justice.

　　Article 30 These Regulations shall go into effect as of the date of promulgation⁴⁶.

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