Adoption notarization is handled by the notary organ in the locality of the adopter and adoptee's residence.

Conditions of the establishment of an adoptive relationship:

Minors under the age of 14, as enumerated below, may be adopted:

orphans bereaved of parents;

abandoned infants or children whose biological parents cannot be ascertained or found;

children whose biological parents are unable to rear them due to unusual difficulties.

The following citizens or institutions shall be entitled to place out children for adoption:

a. guardians of an orphan;

b. public welfare institutions;

c. parents unable to rear their own children due to unusual difficulties.

The adopter shall meet the following requirements simultaneously:

d. childless;

e. capable of rearing and educating the adoptee;

f. having no such diseases as medically considered unfit for adopting a child; and

g. having reached the age of 35.

The adopter may adopt one child only.

Where a male person without spouse adopts a female child, the age difference between the adopter and the adoptee shall be no less than 40 years.

Exceptional cases:

h. Adoption of a child belonging to a collateral relative by blood of the same generation and up to the third degree of kinship by a childless applicant above the age of 35 may not be confined to the restrictions that parents of the adoptee should be unable to rear their own children due to unusual difficulties, the adoptee should be under the age of 14, and that if a male person without spouse adopts a female child, the age difference between the adopter and the adoptee should be no less than 40 years.

An overseas Chinese, in adopting a child belonging to a collateral relative by blood of the same generation and up to the third degree of kinship, may even be not subject to the adopter's childless status.

i. Adoption of a stepson or a stepdaughter: The husband or wife may, with the consent of the father or mother of a child, adopt the child as his or her stepson or stepdaughter, and such adoption may not be subject to any restriction except that the age difference between a male adopter without spouse and the adoptee shall be no less than 40 years.

j. Orphans, disabled children, or abandoned infants and children whose parents cannot be ascertained or found and who are under the care of a public welfare institution may be adopted irrespective of the restrictions that the adopter shall be childless and that he or she may adopt one child only.

k. Where the adopter and adoptee had lived together for years before 1st April 1992, the adoptive relationship formed in such a way shall be handled by relevant provisions.

III. Required documents for notarization submitted by parties of the adoptive relationship:

1. Adopter shall submit the following certifying papers:

resident ID card,residence booklet and duplicate copies of the above two certificates;

adoption application (including adoption purpose, his or her status of being childless or not, income and property conditions, capability of rearing and educating the adoptee, promise of not maltreating or abandoning the adoptee);

certificate of marital status (the married should submit marriage certificate, the single proof of singlehood, the divorced proof of divorce, and the widowed proof of widowhood;

certificate of the adopter's marital, family, age status and his or her capability of rearing and educating the adoptee issued by the personnel department of the adopter's work unit or the community board in the locality of his or her residence;

certificate of the adopter's marital and children's status issued by the family planning office;

certificate of the adopter's infertility and sterility issued by hospital above the county level;

required documents of de facto adoption notarization proving that the adopter and adoptee have lived together for years shall be submitted. Where the adoptee is an abandoned infant, certificate of discovery of the abandoned infant shall be submitted;

where a child belonging to a collateral relative by blood of the same generation and up to the third degree of kinship is to be adopted, certificate of the collateral relationship by blood of the same generation and up to the third degree of kinship shall be submitted. Where an overseas Chinese completes such an adoption, proof of his or her identity shall be needed.

2. The person placing out the child for adoption shall submit the following certifying papers:

a written consent of the biological parents on the placing out for adoption, certificate of marital status, residence booklet, resident ID card and the duplicate copies; certificate that proves the person placing out the child cannot rear the adoptee due to unusual difficulties and that of children's status issued by the family planning department or community board ( people's government at the township/town level);

where a public welfare institution acts as the person who places out a child for adoption shall submit a written consent of placing out signed by the legal representative of the work unit; and

guardians of orphans shall have certificate of qualification to be a guardian, a written consent on placing out for adoption, residence booklet, resident ID card and the duplicate copies.

3. The adoptee' residence certificate or birth certificate as well as the duplicate copies of them.

4. Exceptional cases requires the following certifying papers:

certificate of collateral relationship by blood of the same generation and up to the third degree of kinship;

where the adopter reaches the legal marriage age shall submit the marital status and residence certificate or resident ID card and their duplicate copies;

where the adoptee has a spouse, he or she shall submit a written consent of his or her spouse on the adoption.

5. The written agreement concluded by the adopter and the person placing out.

IV. Adoption agreement shall include in general such contents:

the name, sex, birth date, address of adopter, adoptee and the person places out a child for adoption as well as the relation of the parties of the adoptive relationship;

the reasons for adoption;

the attitudes of the people who jointly place out a child for adoption and that of the adopters who jointly adopt the child;

the attitude of the adoptee (a minor above the age of 10);

the rights and obligations of the adopter, adoptee and the person placing out a child for adoption;

the date of establishment of the adoptive relationship

the signatures of the people who jointly place out a child for adoption, joint adopters of the child and an adoptee of perfect capacity for act.

V. Reminders for adoption notarization:

Parties of the adoptive relationship shall go about the adoption notarization in person. Where the parties of the adoptive relationship do not live locally, agreement submitted by them shall be notarized by the local notary organ.

Where parents intend to place out their child for adoption, they must act in concert. If one parent cannot be ascertained or found, the other parent may place out the child for adoption alone.

Where a person with spouse adopts a child, the husband and wife must adopt the child in concert.

Where a spouse places out a minor for adoption after the death of the other spouse, the parents of the deceased shall have the priority in rearing the child.

Where a guardian intends to place out an orphaned minor for adoption, the guardian must obtain the consent of the person who has obligations to support the orphan. Without full capacity, the guardian(s) of the minor can not place him(her) out for adoption, except when the parents may do serious harm to the minor.

Persons having placed out a child for adoption may not violate regulations on family planning and buying and selling of children under the cloak of adoption shall be strictly prohibited.