Legalization, also called consular legalization, is a consular service requested by a natural person, a legal entity or an organization, to certify the authenticity of the last seal or signature affixed to a notarial act or other documents.

    The purpose of consular legalization is to ensure that notarial deeds issued in one country have due legal effect and can be acknowledged by the relevant authorities in another country with no question as to their authenticity. There are two consular legalization categories: civil affairs legalization and commercial affairs legalization.
    The document, notarized by a French notary public, apostilled by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, legalized by the Chinese Embassy (Consulate) in the order, is valid in China (mainland).

    The document destined for Hong Kong or Macao does not need to be legalized by the Chinese Embassy (Consulate) after the apostille by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.