Article Index
Article 25 Where a natural person, legal person or any other organization requests for notarization, he （it） may file an application with the notarial office of the place where his （its） domicile or habitual residence is located, or where the relevant act is committed, or where the relevant fact occurs.
Where an applicant requests for notarization of any real property, it （he） shall file an request with the notarial office of the place where the real property is located. The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply to the notarization of the power of attorney, statement, bestowal and will relating to the real property.
Article 26 A natural person, legal person or any other organization may authorize others to perform a notarial act with the exception of the notarization of a will, survival, and adoption relationship, which shall be performed by requestor himself.
Article 27 The party who requests for notarization shall faithfully provide the notarial office with the relevant information about the matter it （he） requests for notarization, and shall provide genuine, lawful and adequate certification materials. If the certification materials are incomplete, the notarial office may demand it （him） to make supplements.
After the notarial office accepts a notarial request, it shall inform the party concerned of the legal significance and the possible legal consequences of the matter it （he） requests for notarization, and shall record down those things it has informed the party concerned and keep them in the archive files.
Article 28 When performing notarial acts, a notarial office shall, according to the rules for performing different notarial acts, examine the following items, respectively:
（1）The identity of the party concerned, the qualifications for requesting for the notarial act and the corresponding rights;
（2）Whether the documents he （it） offers are complete, whether the meanings are clear and whether the signature and seal are complete;
（3）Whether the certification materials are authentic, lawful and adequate; and
（4）Whether the matters under request for notarization are genuine and lawful.
Article 29 The notarial office shall, in light of the rules for performing notarial acts, verify or authorize a public office located in another place to verify the matter under request for notarization and the certification materials provided by the party concerned, if it deems it necessary to do so or if it has any doubt about them. The relevant entity or individual shall offer assistance.
Article 30 If the notarial office, upon examination, considers that the certification materials offered by the requestor are genuine, lawful and enough, and that the matter under request for notarization is true and lawful, it shall issue a notarial certificate to the party concerned within 15 days after it accepts the notarization request. However, the time for force majeure, supplementing certification materials or verifying the relevant information shall not be included in the aforesaid time period.
Article 31 A notarial office shall refuse to perform a notarial act under any of the following circumstances:
（1）The person, who has no civil capacity or has limited civil capacity, has no guardian to request for notarization on his behalf;
（2）The party concerned has no interest in the matter under request for notarization;
（3）The matter under request for notarization is a matter of professional technical authentication or assessment;
（4）There are disputes over the matter under request for notarization between the parties concerned;
（5）The party concerned makes up a story, conceals the fact or provides any false certification materials;
（6）The party concerned fails to provide enough certification materials or refuses to supplement the certification materials;
（7）The matter under request for notarization is untrue or unlawful;
（8）The matter under request for notarization violates the social morality; and
（9）The party concerned refuses to pay the notarization fees.
Article 32 A notarial certificate shall be made according to the format as required by the judicial administrative department of the State Council and shall bear the signature or seal of the notary as well as the seal of the notarial office. The notarial certificate comes into effect as of the date of issuance.
A notarial certificate shall be made in the written language commonly used nationwide. In an autonomous area of ethnic minorities, it may be made in the local commonly used ethnic minority language.
Article 33 Where anyone needs to use a notarial certificate outside China, if the country where the notarial certificate is to utilized requires certification in advance, it shall be subject to the certification of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China or its authorized institution and the China-based embassy （consular office） of the relevant country.
Article 34 The party concerned shall pay notarization fees in accordance with the relevant provisions.
If the party concerned satisfies the conditions for obtaining a legal aid, the notarial office shall decrease or remit the notarial fees.
Article 35 A notarial office shall classify the natarial documents into different categories and keep them as archives. At the expiration of the time period for the preservation of notarial archives of the important matters, which shall be subject to notarization under the law or administrative regulation, the notarial office shall transfer these notarial archives to the local archives for preservation.
