Shanghai moves to improve notary services

Shanghai has been taking steps to improve its notary services for businesses from around the world to foster a better business environment based on the rule of law, said Dong Haifeng, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice, during a media interview on Sept 1.

According to Dong, the measures implemented since May include setting up designated offline channels for businesses seeking such services, establishing teams to handle different aspects of notary services, and providing flexible services to help enterprises solve their problems.

"Notarization proves the authenticity and legality of legally significant facts and documents. It plays a crucial role in various aspects of enterprise activities, including establishment, operation, management, financing, transactions, intellectual property, evidence protection and foreign trade. By the end of July, all 25 notary institutions in Shanghai had opened enterprise service windows and green channels for enterprises," said Dong.

"Promoting the active participation of notary institutions is in line with Shanghai's efforts to become an international legal service center. We will expand service programs in different fields such as intellectual property protection, financial services, and financial leasing, and strive to provide highly professional legal services to both local and foreign market entities," he added.

Officials said a local notary service institution had recently designed an entire set of notary solutions to ensure that a global beverage brand's promotional activity was open and fair.

Zhang Lei, director of the Zhangjiang Notary Office in Pudong district, also shared another case in which Shanghai Jiyu Pharmaceutical Technology required notarization of the signatures, seals, and relevant licenses on documents in foreign languages for patent registration purposes.

"Our workers immediately reviewed the certification requirements issued by the foreign countries, and based on the opinions of overseas patent lawyers, checked and reviewed the texts in foreign languages and made modification suggestions. We had to work with various parties, including the translation agencies and foreign affairs certification centers in different countries to issue the notary documents in a timely manner," he said.

The Shanghai City North Notary Office said that it has set up a green channel to handle notary services as more and more domestic businesses have been expanding their operation overseas because of the country's Belt and Road Initiative.

To date, the notary office has issued nearly 100 notary documents for enterprises applying for market registration in foreign countries like Germany, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Indonesia.