A week ago, the Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands officially submitted on behalf of China a document on accession to the Hague Convention to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands on the abolition of the requirement for the legalization of foreign public documents, also known as the "1961 Apostille Convention".

This marks China's official accession to the Convention, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said at a press conference on March 10. The main purpose of this Convention is to simplify the procedures for the use of public documents abroad and facilitate international trade and employment.

The Convention will enter into force in China in early November 2023. China's accession will be an important step towards greater openness in the use of public documents abroad.

This will significantly reduce time and costs, - facilitate the implementation of appropriate procedures for the use of Chinese documents abroad. It will also help improve the business environment, after China's accession to the Convention, foreign companies investing or exporting to China will no longer need to apply for consular legalization for commercial documents. Similar benefits will apply to China's commercial documents related to exports.