Quanzhou in Fujian enhances foreign-related notary services to support overseas Chinese

Quanzhou in East China's Fujian province stands as a pioneering city and a vital strategic hub for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, bolstered by its large and influential overseas Chinese community of over 9.5 million people worldwide. This unique advantage has driven the city's sustained growth in cross-border trade and overseas investment, fueling increasing demand for high-quality foreign-related notary services.

In recent years, the Quanzhou Municipal Bureau of Justice has made continuous efforts to enhance its foreign-related notary services, providing robust legal support for the city's development of an open economy. Currently, all 10 notary institutions in the city are qualified for foreign-related notarization, achieving full coverage in this regard. Among the city's notaries, 60 hold foreign-related qualifications, making up 88 percent of the workforce.

Quanzhou's notary offices have steadily built upon their past success in simplifying paperwork and improving efficiency of delivering services. They have further improved the "one-visit, one-stop service" mechanism to ensure faster processing and simpler procedures, providing overseas Chinese with notary services that deliver greater satisfaction and a stronger sense of benefit.

Capitalizing on Quanzhou's role as a hometown for overseas Chinese, the city's Nan'an Notary Office has delivered targeted notary services to meet the needs of overseas Chinese and enterprises. It has established dedicated service stations for overseas Chinese, focusing on key areas such as foreign-related financing, cross-border trade, and foreign-related litigation. The office has also simplified application procedures, waived fees for financially disadvantaged individuals eligible for legal aid, and introduced priority processing, special arrangements, and one-stop services for these communities.

Meanwhile, Quanzhou's Tonghuai Notary Office, in collaboration with the Quanzhou Overseas Chinese Federation, has set up a dedicated center for notary services related to overseas Chinese affairs. By creating online consultation platforms, expanding remote application channels, and establishing an online video notarization system, the office has extended its reach to meet the growing legal service demands of overseas Chinese, businesses, and their families.

In addition, several notary institutions in Quanzhou have partnered with relevant foreign affairs departments to launch a "Notarization Plus" one-stop service channel for foreign-related notary matters. From January to September this year, the city's notary institutions handled 6,785 foreign-related notarial cases, accounting for 21 percent of all cases processed.

Quanzhou has also advanced its "Internet + Notarization" model by exploring remote video notary services to overcome barriers of time and distance. Since 2025, the city has handled 189 remote video notary cases, including 35 for overseas clients, enabling the entire notarization process to be completed without any in-person visits.

In response to the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce in Shishi, a county-level city administered by Quanzhou, the local notary office has formed a specialized task force to address the legal needs of e-commerce entities. It provides notary services including entity qualification verification, intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, platform entry support, and inheritance notarization, all aimed at safeguarding local brands and promoting the growth of e-commerce businesses.

Similarly, the Notary Office of Quanzhou's Anxi county has introduced an "IPR Notary Service Package," specifically designed to support the region's characteristic rattan-iron crafts and the tea industry. The office offers comprehensive legal services ranging from trademark protection to cross-border trade notarization. Since 2023, it has assisted enterprises with 46 foreign trade notarizations, providing legal support for local enterprises engaging in international trade.

In line with a nationwide campaign launched by the Ministry of Justice to provide standardized, high-quality notary services, Quanzhou has further enhanced its foreign-related notary services by introducing tailored solutions based on the nature of local industries to support local enterprises' overseas expansion.