Apostille is a legal act that member states of the Hague Convention confirm the signatures and stamps on public documents, and signs and stamps such documents officially. Documents that have been authenticated with an Apostille can be directly recognized and accepted by other member states of the Hague Convention, thus eliminating the need for consular certification and greatly improving the efficiency of the parties involved..
On 8 March, 2023, China acceded to the Convention on the Abolition of the Requirement of the Authentication for Foreign Public Documents, which entered into force on 7 November, 2023. The Convention is the international treaty with the widest application and the largest number of contracting parties under the framework of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. From 7 November onwards,,the official documents sent by China to other contracting states for use only need to obtain an additional certificate (Apostille) as required by the Convention, and can be sent to other contracting states for use, without the need for consular legalization by the embassies and consulates of China and other contracting states in China. For the official documents of other contracting states to be sent to the mainland of China for use, only the country’s additional certificate is required, and no consular certification shall be made by the contracting state or the local Chinese embassy or consulate.