Online improvements to streamline notary services

China will strengthen notary technology in cooperation with other Asian countries to improve efficiency in the handling of legal certificates as economic globalization expands, a Ministry of Justice official said.

"With economic globalization and the development of IT services, notary officers should master the electronic notarization technology so they can adapt to changes," Vice-Minister Zhao Dacheng said during the 4th Asian Affairs Commission Conference of the International Union of Notaries, which was held in Beijing on Wednesday.

In South Korea and Japan, the governments have established advanced electronic notarization management systems. All transactions can be made via the Internet, including applications for notary services, specifying a notary, confirmation of signatures and issuing of electronic certificates.

"China will speed up IT development in the notarization industry, and learn from the experience of other countries," he said.

Ding Lu, chairman of the China Notary Association, said that seven provinces, including Shandong and Guangdong, have set up an information-sharing platform between notary agencies and relevant governmental authorities to handle certificates within the provinces.

"Apart from promoting the networking of provincial notary associations, we will establish a nationwide notary information management system using unified software and setting up a database or information sharing platform to improve efficiency," she said.

In addition, the association will send more notaries to foreign countries to receive technical training and exchange knowledge, she said.

Since 2013, China has engaged in regular training with France, Germany and South Korea, and lined up more than 60 notary officers to receive practical training.

Figures provided by the notary association show that there are 26,000 qualified notaries in 3,000 notary agencies across the country.

Notaries have handled 11.2 million certificates annually since 2012, 80 times the volume of 140,000 in 1980, according to data provided at the conference.

zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn