China is pushing to establish a notary system that conforms to its
market economy, Justice Minister Zhang Fusen said yesterday.
"To reach the objective, we need to learn from the countries that
have successful experience in this field," Zhang said during the
opening day of the two-day International Symposium on Notarial
Services and Economic Development.
The symposium, hosted by the Union Internationale Du Notariat Latin
and the China Notaries' Association, aims to seek new ways of using
the notary role in economic globalization. More than 450 notaries
and judicial officials from 38 countries are attending.
"China has been reinforcing its notary system since it carried out
reform policies in the early 1980s and notarial services have now
become part of people's daily lives," the minister said.
With 3,100 notary offices, the country handled more than 10 million
cases last year and its notary documents were distributed to more
than 100 countries and regions.
"But it still has a long way to go when compared with the countries
that have adopted the Latin notary system," Zhang said.
He
added China is willing to improve its system by conducting
extensive exchanges with foreign counterparts.
"But it holds that countries can't develop their legal systems the
same ways because of their different cultures and unbalanced
economic development," Zhang said.
China issued its Provisional Regulation on Notaries in 1982, but it
has failed to meet the changing conditions.
Zheng Changyu, chief of the Notary Affairs Division at the Shanghai
Justice Bureau, said a notary law is being examined by the Standing
Committee of the National People's Congress and waiting to be
approved.
As
a permanent observer, China is welcome to join the Union
Internationale Du Notariat Latin due to its active involvement in
world notary affairs, said Bernardo Perz Fernandez Del Castillo,
union secretary-general.
Over the past decade, China has achieved a remarkable success in
the reform of its judicial system, laying a solid foundation for
its entry into the union, Del Castillo said.
He
said the hosting of the symposium for the first time in a
non-member country, which has attracted so many countries that use
the Latin system, proved the firm support for China's recent
efforts.
"We are glad to see that China's notary system is developing
towards the direction that is required," he said.
(China Daily January 17, 2003)