1. The People’s Republic of China joined the Convention Abolishing the Requirements of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents on March 8, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) , which will come into force between China and Israel on November 7, 2023. The Convention will continue to apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
2. Starting from November 7, public documents within the scope of the Convention which have been executed in the State of Israel only need to apply for an certificate from the State of Israel (Apostille) before they can be used in Chinese mainland. There is no need to apply for the consular legalization of the State of Israel and the Chinese Embassy in Israel.
Public documents within the scope of the Convention which have been executed in the territory of China and have to be used in Israel will no longer require consular legalization by the Chinese side or Israeli Embassy or Consulates in China, but will instead require an addition of the certificate. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China is the competent authority to issue Apostille for public documents which emanate within the territory of China. Entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the offices of foreign affairs of relevant local people’s governments in China can issue Apostille for public documents which emanate within their own administrative regions (see Appendix 1 for the specific list). Apostille supports online verification. For details, please log in to https://consular.mfa.gov.cn/VERIFY/. For specific procedures and requirements in terms of applying for Apostille, please log on to the China Consular Service Network (website: http://cs.mfa.gov.cn/) or the relevant websites of local people’s government’s foreign affairs offices.
3. Starting from November 7, Chinese embassy in Israel will stop providing consular legalization services. For public documents which emanate in the State of Israel and which are intended to be produced in Chinese mainland, please apply for Apostille at the competent authority of the State of Israel (Please see Appendix 2 for specific reference information).
4. According to the Convention, an additional certificate is issued to certify the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted and, where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp which it bears. The issuance of the certificate by the State of Israel does not mean that the public document will certainly be accepted by the Chinese institution which the document will be produced to. It is recommended that you check with the relevant Chinese institution in advance about its specific requirements for the format, content, time limit, translation, etc. of foreign public documents.
Attachment 1: List of local people’s government’s foreign affairs offices that issue the certificate
Attachment 2: Information on processing additional certificates from the State of Israel
Consular Section
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
in the State of Israel
26 October 2023
Attachment 1:
List of the Entrusted Foreign Affairs Offices of Local People’s Government in Chinese Mainland Which Can Issue Certificates
Anhui Province, Chongqing Municipality, Fujian Province, Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guizhou Province, Henan Province, Hei Longjiang Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Hainan Province, Jilin Province, Jiangsu Province, Jiangxi Province, Liaoning Province, Sichuan Province, Shandong Province, Shanghai Municipality, Shaanxi Province, Yunnan Province, Zhejiang Province, Gansu Province, Hebei Province, Shanxi Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Changchun Municipality, Harbin Municipality, Ningbo Municipality, Jinan Municipality, Qingdao Municipality, Shenzhen Municipality.
Attachment 2:
Information on processing Apostille from the State of Israel
Please visit the following website to find more details
https://www.gov.il/en/service/notary_authorization