A power of attorney for China (授权委托书), and who wants it notarised

China has no single rule for a power of attorney (授权委托书). Chinese law expects one to name the agent, the matters, the scope of authority and the term. A court wants one signed abroad notarised and apostilled. The trademark office leaves notarisation to reciprocity, and the national company set-up list names no separate one.

Someone in China is about to act for your company: a trademark agency filing your brand, an agent registering a subsidiary, a lawyer chasing an unpaid invoice. Each of them asks for a power of attorney (授权委托书), and the question that costs money is whether it must go to a notary and then for an apostille. The answer depends on who reads it. The national list of papers for setting up a company does not name a separate one at all.

Does a power of attorney for China need to be notarised and apostilled?

Only where the authority reading it says so. The three authorities a foreign company meets most often say different things.

Who reads it	What the rules ask for	Notarised and apostilled?
The trademark office (CNIPA), through a Chinese trademark agency 商标代理委托书	The content and scope of the agency, and your nationality. A Chinese translation of anything in another language	The Regulations leave it to “the principle of reciprocity” (按照对等原则办理) and set no fixed requirement
A market regulator, setting up a company	No separate power of attorney on the national list. ID copies of the person who hands in the papers (经办人) and of the person authorised to receive legal documents for a foreign-invested company (外商投资企业被授权人)	Your company’s proof of existence, not an authorisation
A market regulator, opening a representative office 常驻代表机构	Your authorisation of the person who signs for you, and the appointment of the chief representative	Yes, both
A Chinese court	The matters and the scope of authority, signed or sealed	Yes if signed abroad and sent. No if signed before a Chinese judge, or before a Chinese notary in China

Where the answer is yes, an apostille has replaced embassy legalisation for documents from Convention states since 7 November 2023.^⁠[5] A power of attorney is a private document, so it is notarised first: the notarial act is the public document the apostille certifies.^⁠[6] India is the exception, because the Convention does not apply between China and India.^⁠[7] Each step is set out in how to get a document apostilled for China.

Hong Kong and Macao are not on that route. For a registry, an investor’s company papers from either are notarised there and passed to the mainland through the Ministry of Justice’s channel, not apostilled.^⁠[2] That route is set out in which documents to notarise and apostille.

A registry also wants the foreign-language original filed with a Chinese translation. The translation carries the translation company’s seal and the words “accurate translation” (翻译准确), with a copy of its business licence.^⁠[2] A certified translation is made to that specification.

What does Chinese law expect a power of attorney to say?

Four things and a signature: the agent’s name, the matters entrusted, the scope of the authority and its term, signed or sealed by the company giving it (Civil Code, Article 165).^⁠[8] A general power with no end date leaves out the fourth, the term. An act within the authority binds your company. An act outside it, or after it has ended, does not, unless your company ratifies it.^⁠[8]

Chinese law usually governs the document even when it is drafted at home. By default an agency follows the law of the place where the agent acts, and the relationship between you and the agent follows the law of the place where it arose. The two sides may instead choose the law for an agency they agree.^⁠[9]

Who signs for a foreign company that has no company seal?

Someone with authority to sign for your company signs it. Chinese law accepts a signature or a seal on the authorisation.^⁠[8] The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) sets the national list of registration papers. Its 2026 edition lets a company sign through its legal representative, its head or an authorised signatory, or seal instead, unless a form expressly asks for both.^⁠[2]

For a representative office, the signatory’s own authority becomes a document. The specification lists the foreign company’s authorisation of its authorised signatory, and that authorisation is notarised and apostilled with the company’s proof of existence and its appointment of the chief representative.^⁠[2] Inside China a company’s seal does more than a signature, as what a company chop is explains.

What does CNIPA ask for when we appoint a trademark agency?

A power of attorney to a Chinese trademark agency, because a foreign company with no habitual residence or place of business in China cannot file for itself.^⁠[1,10] From 1 January 2027 the revised law states the rule, residence test included, in Article 11.^⁠[11]

The Regulations ask for three things in or with the document: the content and scope of the agency, your company’s nationality, and a Chinese translation of anything in another language. A foreign-language document filed without one is treated as never filed.^⁠[1] CNIPA publishes no fixed template.^⁠[12]

On notarisation the Regulations say only that it is handled on the principle of reciprocity.^⁠[1] They set no requirement of their own, so the agency filing for you is the one to say what CNIPA currently asks of a company from your country. Choosing the classes and the Chinese name before that filing is what trademark strategy covers.

A trademark, a company and a court claim. How many powers of attorney is that?

Say a Danish lighting brand with no Chinese entity does all three in 2027. In February it appoints a Chinese trademark agency. Its director signs the agency’s power of attorney, which states that the company is Danish, and the agency files it with a Chinese translation.^⁠[1]

In May the brand sets up a subsidiary in Hangzhou. Its certificate of registration is notarised in Copenhagen and apostilled. The subsidiary names a person in China to receive legal documents, and the national list asks for that person’s ID, not for a power of attorney.^⁠[2] In September a Chinese customer stops paying, and a Chinese lawyer sues for the brand. That power of attorney is signed in Copenhagen, notarised and apostilled, and it lists the power to settle.^⁠[3]

Three filings, three different answers. Only the court’s rules say expressly that the power of attorney itself must be notarised.

Can an agent with “full authority” settle our case in a Chinese court?

No, because a court reads the document narrowly. A power of attorney that says only “full authority” (全权代理) gives no specific powers. With it alone the agent cannot admit, drop or change a claim, settle, counterclaim or appeal (SPC Interpretation, Article 89).^⁠[4] Each of those needs special authority written into the document.^⁠[3]

Sent from abroad, the court’s power of attorney is notarised, then apostilled or legalised.^⁠[3] Signed in China it needs neither, if a Chinese judge witnesses the signing or a Chinese notary notarises it.^⁠[4] Nor does one signed on a video call that the judge sets up through the court’s online filing service, with your representative and the Chinese lawyer on the call.^⁠[13] How that works, and the company papers a court also wants, is in documents from abroad for a Chinese court.

How do we cancel a power of attorney in China?

By withdrawing it, or by letting its term run out. Authority also ends when the task is complete, or when either side, as a company, ceases to exist (Civil Code, Article 173).^⁠[8]

A withdrawal does not protect you against everyone. If the agent goes on acting and the other side had reason to believe the authority still stood, the act binds your company.^⁠[8] A fixed term in the document limits how long that can happen.

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