Notaries play an important role in the Chinese legal system.

Since the reform and opening-up began in the late 1970s, the Chinese notary system has made great progress.

As of the end of 2011, China had more than 3,000 notary offices and more than 12,000 notaries.

In recent years, Chinese notary organs processed more than 10 million cases annually and the notarized documents they have produced have been sent and used in more than 100 countries and regions throughout the world.

Passed in 2005, the Notary Law of China is the legal basis for the current notary system in China. It clearly lays out rules and regulations governing notary offices, notaries, procedures, accreditation, legal liabilities and supervision.

The notary law sets clear rules on the nature, establishment and operation of notary offices as well as the professional qualifications needed to become a notary.

Notary offices, which are not for profit, must be legally set up to exercise notary functions independently and undertake civil judicial responsibilities.

Notary offices can be set up in districts, counties, cities and municipalities.

The notary offices should have their own names, sites, more than two notary officers and necessary funds to operate their businesses.

Notary services cover the following maters in civil law - contracting, inheritance, trust, declaration, gifting, testament, division of property, tendering and bidding, auction, marriage, kinship, adoption, birth, existence, death, identity, experience, education background, degree, official title, title of technical post, criminal record, articles of incorporation, evidence conservancy, transcript of signatures, legal seals, dates, transcripts on documents, verifying the accuracy of photocopies by comparison to original versions, as well as the other notary matters voluntarily submitted by natural persons, legal persons and other organizations.

The notary offices can also deal with the following matters: registration of entities and individuals as required by laws and regulations for notary offices; taking and conserving property, articles and documents related to wills, inheritance, etc; writing legal affairs documents related to notary affairs and providing legal consultation.

To be qualified, notaries must be aged between 25 and 65 and be law-abiding citizens of the People's Republic of China. They are required to pass national judicial exams. Qualified applicants will have more than two years of internship experience in notary offices or more than three years of legal experience coupled with more than one year of internship time in notary offices. They must also pass relevant performance evaluations.

Regarding the notary procedure, the law has specific rules on applications for notarization, the verification process and the issuance of the notary deed.

The applicants can submit applications to the notary offices in their place of residence or where the activities being dealt with by the notary occur.

The notary offices, according to different categories of the applications, should verify the following facts: the identity of applicants, the qualifications of the application and relevant rights; the adequacy and authenticity of the packages submitted, including signatures and seals; and if the activities that will be subject to the notarization process are real and legal.

If the notary offices verify the packages submitted are authentic, legal and adequate and the affairs for notary are real and legal, the offices should issue notary deeds to the applicants within 15 working days after receiving the application.

The notary law governs the validity of the notary. Civil justice acts, facts and documents with legal meaning, if notarized, should be regarded as evidence to support facts, except in cases where there is adequate evidence to the contrary that can potentially overturn the conclusion of the notary.

According to the law, if the notary offices violates laws, the judicial administration departments of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and cities in which the notary offices are located have the right to warn, fine, suspend or stop the operations, confiscate illegal incomes, and cancel professional certificates.

The notary law stipulates that notary associations at national, provincial, autonomous region, municipality and city levels are self-disciplinary organizations that supervise the operations of the notary offices and notaries according to their own rules.

The judicial administration departments are in charge of supervising and directing the work of notary offices, notaries and notary associations.

The author is an official in charge of affairs relating to lawyers and notarization at the Ministry of Justice.