China's Ministry of Justice authorized, for the first time,
notaries in its Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), to
strengthen economic links between Macao and the inland areas.
Minister of Justice Wu Aiying handed the notary certificates to
five Macao attorneys on Wednesday and they became the first batch
of notaries authorized by the ministry.
Economic and trade cooperation between Macao and the inland
areas has been strengthened under the Closer Economic Partnership
Arrangement (CEPA) signed in 2003, Vice Minister of Justice Duan
Zhengkun said.
According to the CEPA and its attachments, Macao's service
providers must hand in documents notarized by Macao's notary
department or by the notaries authorized by the central government
before they enjoy the favorable policies, Duan said.
"To this end, five qualified Macao lawyers have been selected
and authorized as approved notaries after a series of interviews,
exams, trainings and assessments since the end of 2005," Duan
said.
The implementation of CEPA has boosted Macao's economic
development. Government statistics show that the SAR's economy
registered a growth rate of 28.6 percent in 2004, the highest in
two decades.
(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2006)
