On March 8, 2023, China acceded to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (hereinafter "the Convention"), and the Convention entered into force in China on November 7, 2023.

The Convention is an international treaty with the widest scope of application and the largest number of signatories or contracting parties under the framework of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, aiming to simplify the procedures for cross-border circulation of public documents. Starting from November 7, public documents sent by China to other signatories for use can be sent to them only by applying for the additional apostille as stipulated in the Convention, and there is no need to apply for consular legalization by the embassies and consulates of China and signatories in China. For official documents of other signatories sent to Chinese mainland for use, only additional apostilles of that country are required, and consular legalization of the country and the Chinese embassy or consulate in that country does not need to be processed. The Chinese additional apostilles will be in the form of a sticker with a silver national emblem seal. Additional apostilles issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and relevant local foreign affairs offices support online verification.