China Trademark Documents by Country: Full Reference List

The question we are asked most often before a filing is not about classes or fees. It is simply: what do you need from us?

The answer turns on two things — how your company is registered, and whether the document your registry issues shows that the company is still on the register today.

This page is the lookup. For each jurisdiction we work with it sets out the business-registration document CNIPA expects, whether a second "current status" document has to accompany it, and which authentication route applies in the cases where authentication is asked for at all.

Everything below was verified on 30 September 2026, and requirements can change at any time. CNIPA's requirement at the time your application is actually filed governs. We check the current position on your file before you spend money collecting documents. Hague Convention membership in particular moves every few months, and Chinese filing practice is still settling after the move to full electronic filing in 2026. Treat this page as a route map, not as a substitute for that check.

Start here: for an ordinary application, nothing has to be notarised

This surprises almost every new client, so it is worth stating plainly.

For an ordinary application for goods and services, China does not require a foreign applicant to notarise, apostille or consular-legalise either its proof of legal status or its power of attorney. Three things support that:

Article 11 of the Trademark Law applies the reciprocity principle, which is a defensive rule: where the applicant's home country does not require notarisation from Chinese applicants, China does not require it either.
Article 5.1.1.3 of the Trademark Examination Guidelines asks only that every document submitted be within its stated validity period, and that foreign applicants supply a Chinese translation. The Guidelines never use the words notarisation, apostille or authentication in this context. Article 5.1.3.1 asks foreign applicants for a copy of the registration document of their country or region; for applicants from China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Article 5.1.2.2 asks for the same thing.
CNIPA and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade have both said in public guidance that proof of legal status and the power of attorney may be filed as copies — no originals, and no notarisation or authentication.

There are two exceptions worth knowing before you start. Collective marks and certification marks are different: CNIPA requires authentication of foreign-origin documents, including proof of legal status and evidence of testing capability. And if CNIPA later issues a correction notice on your file, it can ask for something more than the original copy. That second case is rare on a straightforward application, and when it happens we tell you exactly what is needed rather than guessing.

For a fuller account of the rule and how it is applied, see China Trademark Documents: What to Send, What to Notarise.

The part that genuinely varies: proof that the company still exists

The Guidelines say every document must be within its stated validity period. That single sentence is what drives the most common delay we see, and it produces a counter-intuitive result.

A register extract — a document pulled from the register on request, dated in the last few days or weeks — shows that the company is on the register now. It satisfies the rule on its own.

A certificate of incorporation records one day in history. It states that the company was incorporated on a particular date, and it carries no validity period at all because there is nothing to expire. It cannot show that the company still exists, so something current has to accompany it.

The practical consequence is that applicants from the Gulf, whose trade licences are renewed annually and therefore always current, send one document — while applicants from the United Kingdom or Hong Kong, China, whose incorporation certificates are lifetime documents, have to send two. A longer corporate history does not mean a lighter file.

Route 1 — a signed scan and a Chinese translation

For the great majority of jurisdictions, this is the whole requirement: a copy of the registration document, stamped or signed by the company as the Guidelines require for online filing, plus a Chinese translation. We prepare the translation; see Translating Your Corporate Documents for a China Trademark for what that involves.

European registries

Germany — Handelsregisterauszug (commercial register extract), pulled from handelsregister.de
France — Extrait Kbis, from the greffe of the commercial court
Italy — Visura camerale ordinaria, from the chamber of commerce
Spain — Certificación del Registro Mercantil, or a Nota Simple
Netherlands — Uittreksel Handelsregister, downloaded from the KVK
Belgium — Uittreksel uit de KBO / Extrait BCE
Switzerland — Handelsregisterauszug, from the cantonal register
Austria — Firmenbuchauszug
Sweden — Registreringsbevis, from Bolagsverket
Norway — Firmaattest, from the Brønnøysund Register Centre
Denmark — Udskrift fra CVR
Finland — Kaupparekisteriote, from the PRH
Poland — Odpis z KRS, from the national court register
Czechia — Výpis z obchodního rejstříku
Portugal — Certidão Permanente do Registo Comercial
Ireland — Certificate of Incorporation, plus a current CRO company printout
United Kingdom — Certificate of Incorporation, plus a confirmation statement (form CS01). A company incorporated less than a year ago will not have one yet; send the incorporation documents and tell us the incorporation date.
Russia — Выписка из ЕГРЮЛ (EGRUL extract), from the Federal Tax Service

Asia and the Pacific

Japan — 履歴事項全部証明書 (Certificate of All Historical Matters), from the Legal Affairs Bureau
South Korea — 법인등기부등본 (certified copy of the corporate register)
Singapore — ACRA BizFile business profile, downloaded live. Ask for the business profile rather than the certificate of incorporation: the profile is current, the certificate is not.
Malaysia — SSM company profile
Thailand — หนังสือรับรองบริษัท (company certificate) from the Department of Business Development
Vietnam — Giấy chứng nhận đăng ký doanh nghiệp, plus a current printout from the national business registration portal
Indonesia — Akta Pendirian, the ministerial approval letter, and the NIB business identification number
Philippines — SEC certificate of incorporation, plus the latest General Information Sheet
India — Certificate of Incorporation, plus the MCA company master data
Pakistan — Certificate of Incorporation, plus SECP company profile or certified true copy
Israel — Company extract from the Registrar of Companies. Ask for the extract, not the certificate of incorporation.
Mongolia — State registration certificate
Kazakhstan — Certificate of state registration of a legal entity
Australia — ASIC company extract, or a certificate of current registration
New Zealand — Company extract, downloaded from the Companies Office

The Americas, Africa, and China's Hong Kong

United States — Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization from the Secretary of State, plus a Certificate of Good Standing where the state issues one. Requirements are set at state level, so the combination varies.
Canada — Articles or Certificate of Incorporation, federal or provincial, plus a Corporate Profile Report
Brazil — Certidão Simplificada from the state commercial board, plus the CNPJ registration card
Mexico — Acta Constitutiva, plus the constancia de situación fiscal
Argentina — Estatuto, plus a Certificado de Vigencia de Sociedad
Chile — Certificado de Vigencia de Sociedad
Colombia — Certificado de Existencia y Representación Legal, from the chamber of commerce
Peru — Partida Registral from SUNARP, plus the Ficha RUC
South Africa — CIPC company disclosure certificate
Hong Kong, China — Certificate of Incorporation plus the Annual Return (form NAR1). This is the one entry most often described incorrectly online. A China-Appointed Attesting Officer plus transmission through China Legal Service (HKSAR) Ltd is a real channel, but it serves mainland litigation, property, marriage and share transfers — not trademark filings. For a China trademark application, Hong Kong companies send the two registration documents and nothing more.

Route 2 — a single apostille

China joined the Apostille Convention on 8 March 2023 and it entered into force for China on 7 November 2023. Between China and another member state, one apostille issued in the applicant's own country replaces the older notarisation-plus-consulate chain, cutting roughly fifteen working days from the process.

The following jurisdictions in our set are member states, and apostilles are the route that applies where authentication is asked for: Saudi Arabia (in force 7 December 2022), Oman (30 January 2012), Bahrain (31 December 2013), Türkiye (29 September 1985), Morocco (14 August 2016), Tunisia (30 March 2018) and Algeria (9 July 2026).

Two cautions, because both are widely repeated incorrectly:

India is a member state, but India objected to China's accession on 8 September 2023. Under Article 12 of the Convention it therefore does not operate between China and India. An apostille obtained in India is not a complete step for a Chinese filing.
The UAE is not a party on the official status table, so applicants registered there follow Route 3 rather than obtaining an apostille.

Note that some member states' apostilles do not reach China at all: China's declaration on accession excludes contracting states it does not recognise as sovereign, which is why an apostille from Kosovo is not usable here.

Route 3 — notarisation plus consular legalisation

Where the applicant's jurisdiction is not a member state, the older chain still applies: notarisation locally, then authentication by the foreign ministry, then legalisation by the Chinese embassy or consulate. Budget around twenty working days, and expect the sequence to be strictly ordered — the consulate will not legalise a document that has not been through the foreign ministry.

In our set this covers the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya.

Three points of detail that regularly cause delay:

Kuwait imposes the tightest validity rule we handle. A power of attorney must reach the Trademark Office within six months of signature, after which it lapses. The chain has to be scheduled backwards from that date.
Saudi Arabia allows five years on a power of attorney, which is the other end of the range. Validity periods are set by the country concerned and have nothing to do with which authentication route applies.
Iran's chain includes an intermediate jurisdiction, which makes it materially longer than the others in this group. Build additional time into the schedule.

Malaysia sits outside both routes in practice — a signed scan is what an ordinary application needs — but Malaysia is not a member state, so if authentication is ever requested the route is this one, not an apostille.

Route 4 — China's Macao and Taiwan

Article 5.1.2.2 of the Guidelines places applicants from China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan under a single rule: file a copy of the registration document of the region, plus a Chinese translation. Nothing beyond the registration document is required at filing, and no authentication chain applies.

Macao, China — commercial registration certificate (Certidão do Registo Comercial), issued on request by the Commercial and Movable Property Registry, plus a signed power of attorney
Taiwan, China — company registration certificate issued by the Department of Commerce, plus a signed power of attorney

The jurisdictions where a second, current document is needed

This is the list to check your own file against. In each case the incorporation document is a static record and something current has to accompany it:

United Kingdom (confirmation statement CS01) · Hong Kong, China (annual return NAR1, or NNC1 / NNC1G if incorporated less than a year ago) · Ireland (CRO company printout) · Singapore (BizFile business profile) · Malaysia (SSM company profile) · India (MCA company master data) · Pakistan (SECP company profile) · Philippines (latest General Information Sheet) · Nigeria (CAC status report) · Kenya (BRS certificate of registration or a recent extract) · Canada (Corporate Profile Report) · United States (Certificate of Good Standing, where the state issues one) · Australia (ASIC company extract) · New Zealand (Companies Office company extract).

Everything else in the lists above already arrives current. Two notes to keep this in proportion:

This has nothing to do with maintaining a trademark. A registered China trademark has no annual fee and no annual filing. It has a ten-year term; renewal is covered in Renewing a China Trademark. The annual return discussed here is a company-registry obligation, not a trademark one.
Where your registry is partitioned, the answer depends on which part you are registered in. The United States, Canada and India are the three cases in our set where whether a current-status document can be obtained depends on the state, province or register concerned. We tell you which document to ask for once we know the registered address.

Entries that are changing

Hague membership keeps growing, so any list of this kind goes out of date within a quarter. As at 30 September 2026:

Vietnam — the Convention entered into force on 11 September 2026. Vietnamese applicants have moved from the full chain to a single apostille, saving about fifteen working days. Any page still saying otherwise is out of date.
Algeria — in force since 9 July 2026, same effect.
Thailand — Thailand deposited its instrument on 30 December 2025, but the Convention only enters into force for it on 28 February 2027. Until then Thailand is treated as a non-member state.
India — unchanged while the objection stands. If India withdraws it, the Convention begins to operate between China and India.

We re-scan the HCCH status table for the jurisdictions we file most often twice a year, and on any file where a date is close to a change.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to notarise my company documents for a China trademark application?

No. For an ordinary application for goods and services, China requires neither notarisation nor authentication of your proof of legal status or your power of attorney — a copy stamped or signed by the company, plus a Chinese translation, is what the Examination Guidelines ask for. Authentication becomes relevant for collective and certification marks, and occasionally if CNIPA issues a correction notice on your file.

Which countries' documents need an apostille for a China filing?

None by rule — the apostille question only arises if authentication is asked for. Where it is, the route depends on whether the applicant's jurisdiction is a party to the Apostille Convention and whether the Convention operates between that jurisdiction and China. Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Türkiye, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria are member states, so one apostille is enough. India is a member state but objected to China's accession, so it is not.

Is a certificate of incorporation enough, or do I also need proof the company still exists?

A certificate of incorporation on its own is often not enough, because it records an incorporation date and carries no validity period. Where your registry issues a current extract on request — most of continental Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and others — that extract does the job by itself. Where it does not, a current annual filing has to accompany the certificate. Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom are the two clearest examples.

My company is registered in the UAE — do the documents need consular legalisation?

Yes. The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille is not accepted there. The chain runs through notarisation, foreign ministry authentication and Chinese consular legalisation, and the sequence has to be followed in that order.

How long is a power of attorney valid for a China filing?

It depends on the country, not on China. Kuwait gives six months from signature, after which the document lapses and must be re-executed; Saudi Arabia allows five years. For most jurisdictions there is no fixed expiry, which is why we ask for the power of attorney to be signed close to filing rather than months in advance.

What happens if CNIPA asks for authenticated documents after I have filed?

It is uncommon on an ordinary application, but it happens, usually through a correction notice. Because a correction notice carries a deadline, the useful move is to tell us immediately rather than to start collecting documents — the authenticated set is often narrower than the whole file, and we can tell you which items are actually being questioned and which of the routes above applies to you.

Can these requirements change after I file?

Yes, and Hague Convention membership in particular changes regularly. Requirements are those in force when CNIPA examines and decides your application, not those in force today, and CNIPA's requirement at the time of filing governs. This page reflects the position verified on 30 September 2026; ask us to re-check it on your file rather than relying on the date of publication.