Article 1 These Measures are formulated in accordance
with the Adoption Law of the People's Republic of China for the
purpose of regulating foreign-related adoption registration
practice.
Article 2 The adoption of children within the territory
of the People's Republic of China by foreigners (hereinafter
referred to as adoption of children in China by foreigners) shall
be registered in accordance with these Measures.
Where one party of a couple as adopter is a foreigner, the
adoption of a child in China by them shall also be registered in
accordance with these Measures.
Article 3 The adoption of children in China by foreigners
shall comply with the provisions of the relevant Chinese laws on
adoption, as well as the provisions of the relevant laws on
adoption of the countries where adopters reside; problems arising
from discrepancy between the provisions of the laws of the
countries where adopters reside and those of the Chinese laws shall
be resolved through consultation by relevant departments of the
governments of the two countries.
Article 4 A foreigner who
is to adopt a child in China shall, through the government of the
country where he or she resides or an adoption organization
delegated by the government of the said country (hereafter referred
to as the foreign adoption organization), convey an application for
adoption and submit the adopter's family situation report and a
certificate to an adoption organization delegated by the Chinese
government (hereinafter referred to as the Chinese adoption
organization).
The adopter's application for adoption, the family situation
report and the certificate stipulated in the preceding paragraph
refer to the following documents that are issued by the competent
agencies of the country where the adopter resides and,
authenticated by a diplomatic department of the country where the
adopter resides or by an agency authorized by the said diplomatic
department, and authenticated by the embassy or consulate of the
People's Republic of China stationed in that country.
(1) an application for inter-country adoption;
(2) a birth certificate;
(3) a certificate of marital status;
(4) a certificate of profession, income and of property
condition;
(5) a certificate of health examination;
(6) a certificate indicating whether the adopter has ever been
subjected to criminal punishment;
(7) a certificate certifying the approval of the inter-country
adoption by the competent authority of the country where the
adopter resides;
(8) a family situation report, including the status of the
adopter, the qualification and appropriateness of the adoption,
family background, medical history, adoption motive and features
suitable for taking care of children.
Foreigners who have continuously lived in China for more than
one year for work or study and are to adopt children in China shall
submit the documents stipulated in the preceding paragraph except
for the certificate of health examination, and shall also submit
certificates indicating such particulars of the adopter as marital
status, profession, income or property condition and whether they
have ever been subjected to criminal punishment, which are issued
by the Chinese units to which they belong, and certificates of
health examination issued by medical units at or above the county
level.
Article 5 The person placing out a child for adoption
shall submit to the civil affairs department of the people's
government of a province, an autonomous region or a municipality
directly under the Central Government his or her residence booklet,
resident identity card (where a social welfare institution places
out a child for adoption, then the identity credential of the
person in charge of such an institution shall be submitted), and
residence certificate of the adoptee, etc., and shall submit the
following certifying papers according to different situations:
(1) Where the biological parents (including divorced ones) are
the persons who place out the adoptee for adoption, a certificate
certifying that the biological parents cannot rear the adoptee due
to unusual difficulties and a written consent of both of the
biological parents on the placing out for adoption shall be
submitted; among those, where the adoptee is placed out for
adoption by a single parent because the spouse of the biological
father or mother has died or has been missing, a certificate
certifying that the other spouse has died or has been missing as
well as a written declaration of the parents of the dead spouse or
the spouse who has been missing on giving up the priority in
rearing the child shall also be submitted;
(2) Where a guardian is the person who places out the adoptee
for adoption because the adoptee's parents have no full civil
capacity, a certificate certifying that the adoptee's parents have
no full civil capacity and may do serious harm to the adoptee and a
certificate certifying that the guardian has the right of
guardianship shall be submitted;
(3) Where a guardian is the person who places out the adoptee
for adoption because both of the adoptee's parents have died, a
certificate certifying the death of the adoptee's biological
parents, a certificate certifying the guardian's actual bearing of
obligations of guardianship as well as a written consent of other
persons bearing rearing obligations on the placing out for adoption
shall be submitted;
(4) Where a social welfare institution acts as the person who
places out a child for adoption, a certificate of the situations in
the abandonment and discovery of the abandoned infant or child, and
a certificate of the process of the search of his or her parents or
other guardians shall be submitted; where the adoptee is an orphan,
a certificate certifying the death or the declaration of death of
the orphan's parents as well as a written consent of other persons
bearing the obligations of rearing the orphan on the placing out
for adoption shall be submitted.
Where a disabled child is placed out for adoption, a certificate
of disability of the child issued by a medical unit at or above the
county level shall also be submitted.
Article 6 The civil affairs department of the people's
government of a province, an autonomous region or a municipality
directly under the Central Government shall examine the credentials
and certifying papers submitted by those who place out children for
adoption, and issue public notices to ascertain or look for the
biological parents for those abandoned infants or children whose
biological parents cannot be ascertained or found; where the
adoptee and those who place out children for adoption are believed
to meet the requirements stipulated in the Adoption Law, a list of
their names shall be notified to the Chinese adoption organization,
and the following credentials and certifying papers shall be
conveyed simultaneously:
(1) duplicate copies of residence booklets and resident identity
cards of those who place out children for adoption (if a social
welfare institution places out a child for adoption, then the
identity credential of the person-in-charge of such an
institution);
(2) duplicate copies of certificates certifying that the
adoptees are abandoned infants or orphans, their residence
certificates, growth reports and health examination certificates as
well as photos of the adoptees.
The public notice issued by the civil affairs department of the
people's government of a province, an autonomous region or a
municipality directly under the Central Government for ascertaining
or looking for the biological parents of those abandoned infants or
children shall be published in a local newspaper at the provincial
level. Where the biological parents or other guardians of the
abandoned infant or child do not come to claim him or her after 60
days as of the date of the publication of the public notice, such
an abandoned infant or child shall be regarded as one whose
biological parents cannot be ascertained or found.
Article 7 The Chinese adoption organization shall, after
having examined the application for adoption and the relevant
certificates submitted by the foreign adopter and by referring to
the desire of the foreign adopter, select a suitable adoptee from
among the adoptees who are recommended by the civil affairs
department of the people's government of a province, an autonomous
region or a municipality directly under the Central Government and
who meet the requirements stipulated in the Adoption Law, and
shall, through the foreign government or a foreign adoption
organization, send to the foreign adopter the information about the
adoptee and the person placing out the child for adoption. Where
the adoption is agreed by the foreign adopter, the Chinese adoption
organization shall send him or her a notice of coming to China for
adoption of a child, and simultaneously inform the relevant civil
affairs department of the people's government of a province, an
autonomous region or a municipality directly under the Central
Government to send the person placing out the child for adoption a
notice that consent has already been given to the adoption of the
adoptee.
Article 8 Where foreigners come to China to adopt
children, they shall come to China in person to go through the
registration formalities. Where a foreign couple adopt a child in
concert, they shall come in concert to China to go through the
adoption formalities; where one party of them cannot come to China
for some reasons, the other party shall be delegated in writing,
and the power of attorney shall be notarized and authenticated by
the country where they reside.
Article 9 A foreigner who
comes to China to adopt a child shall conclude a written adoption
agreement with the person placing out the child for adoption. The
agreement shall be in three copies, the adopter and the person
placing out the child for adoption shall keep one copy each, and
the adoption registration organ shall keep one copy when handling
the adoption registration formalities.
After the written agreement is concluded, the parties involved
in the adoptive relationship shall register the adoption in concert
with the civil affairs department of the people's government of the
province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the
Central Government in the locality where the adoptee's permanent
residence is registered.
Article 10 The parties involved in the adoptive
relationship shall, when registering adoption, fill out a
registration application for adoption of children by foreigners in
China and submit the adoption agreement, and shall respectively
submit the relevant documents.
The adopters shall submit the following documents:
(1) the notice of coming to China for adoption of a child issued
by the Chinese adoption organization;
(2) the identity credentials and photos of the adopters.
The person placing out a child for adoption shall submit the
following documents:
(1) the notice that consent has already been given to the
adoption of the adoptee issued by the civil affairs department of
the people's government of the province, autonomous region or
municipality directly under the Central Government;
(2) the residence booklet and resident identity card of the
person placing out the child for adoption (if a social welfare
institution places out the child for adoption, then the identity
credential of the persons-in-charge of such an institution) and
photos of the adoptee.
Article 11 The adoption registration organ shall conduct
examination within 7 days from the next date of the receipt of the
registration application for adoption of children in China by
foreigners and the relevant documents related to the adopter, the
adoptee and the person placing out the child for adoption; where
the requirements stipulated in Article 10 of these Measures are
met, the adoption shall be registered for the parties, and an
adoption registration certificate be issued. The adoptive
relationship shall be established as of the date of
registration.
The adoption registration organ shall inform the Chinese
adoption organization of the result of the registration.
Article 12 Where, after the adoption has been registered,
adoption notarization is required by all parties or any one party
involved in the adoptive relationship, the adoption shall be
notarized in a notary organ with the qualification of
foreign-related notarization in the locality where the adoption is
registered.
Article 13 Before the adoptee leaves China, the adopter
shall, on the strength of the adoption registration certificate, go
through the exit formalities for the adoptee with the public
security organ in the locality where the adoption is
registered.
Article 14 Foreigners who adopt children in China shall
pay a registration fee to the registration organs. The standard for
the registration fee shall be implemented in accordance with the
relevant provisions of the State.
Chinese adoption organizations are non-profit-making public
welfare institutions which provide service to foreign adopters and
may charge service fees. The standard for charging service fees
shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant provisions of
the State.
For the purpose of rearing abandoned infants and children living
in social welfare institutions, the State encourages foreign
adopters and foreign adoption organizations to make donation to
social welfare institutions. The social welfare institutions
receiving donations must use all the donations to improve the
nurturing conditions for the abandoned infants and children reared
and may not misappropriate the donations for other purposes, and
shall inform the donors of the use of the donations. The social
welfare institutions receiving donations shall also subject
themselves to the supervision of the relevant departments and make
the use of the donations known to the public.
Article 15 The activities of Chinese adoption
organizations shall be subject to the supervision of the civil
affairs department of the State Council.
Article 16 These Measures shall take effect as of the
date of promulgation. The Implementation Measures on the Adoption
of Children by Foreigners in the People's Republic of China,
approved by the State Council on November 3, 1993 and promulgated
by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Civil Affairs on
November 10, 1993, shall be repealed simultaneously.
Notice: In case of discrepancy, the original version in
Chinese shall prevail.