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)