Chinese Consular Notary can Make Consular Authentication for Contractual Documents according to Law

　　I. Forms of the contractual documents which can be authenticated by Chinese consular notary in accordance with law

　　The Chinese consular notary refers to the consular officers who perform their duties of notarization (that is, notarization and authentication) in Chinese diplomatic or consular institutions stationed abroad

　　Article 2 of the Contract Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Contract Law) which came into effect as of October 1, 1999prescribes that “[a] contract in this Law refers to an agreement establishing, modifying and terminating the civil rights and obligations between subjects of equal footing, that is, between natural persons, legal persons or other organizations. Agreements involving personal status relationship such as on matrimony, adoption, guardianship, etc. shall apply the provisions of other Laws.” The term contract used in this article refers to the contract prescribed by the Contract Law.

　　(Ⅰ) General forms of contracts

　　Article 10 of the Contract Law prescribes that “The parties may conclude a contract in written, oral or other forms. Where the laws or administrative regulations require a contract to be concluded in written form, the contract shall be in written form. If the parties agree to do so, the contract shall be concluded in written form.” Accordingly, in the social civil and commercial activities there are several types of contract forms as follows:

　　1. Oral form

　　A contract in oral form refers to the contract which is concluded by the parties involved in the contract by means of speaking to each other.

　　It is simple and convenient to conclude a contract in oral form, therefore it plays a quite important role in the promotion of the civil and commercial activities. However, once disputes arise from the contract in oral form, the responsibilities of the parties involved are difficult to be distinguished

　　2. Written form

　　A contract in written form refers to the contract which is concluded by the parties by means of writing. Article 11of the Contract Law prescribes that “The written forms mean the forms which can show the described contents visibly, such as a written contractual agreement, letters, and data telex(including telegram, telex, fax, EDI and emails).”

　　Despite the complexity of concluding a contract of written form, it makes definite the rights and obligations of the parties involved, and consequently disputes are not prone to rise.

　　3. Notary form

　　The notary form refers to the written form of contract concluding that the notary institution inspects and confirms and then testifies the authenticity and legality of the contract in statutory procedure according to the application of the parties involved in the contract. Artide 36 of the Notarization Law prescribes that “The notarized civil legal act, fact and document of legal significance shall be considered as the basis for determining a fact except that there is contrary evidence which is enough to reverse the notarization.” Accordingly, the legal effect of the notarized contract will be confirmed by the judicial or arbitral institutions in ordinary circumstances except that there is contrary evidence.

　　The notary form is generally adopted by the parties involved in the contract according to the items agreed on or the law.