Sui Gui Hua Zi Yuan Gui Zi [2024] No.3
Notice of the Guangzhou Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau on Issuing the Measures of Guangzhou for Immovable Property Registration Information Inquiry
All relevant unities,
The Measures of Guangzhou for Immovable Property Registration Information Inquiry is hereby issued to you for your compliance and enforcement. For any questions in the enforcement, please consult the Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau.
Guangzhou Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau
February 7, 2024
Measures of Guangzhou for Immovable Property Registration Information Inquiry
Article 1 These Measures aim to regulate inquiries about immovable property registration information, to enhance the management and application of immovable property registration information, to secure immovable property transactions, and to guard the legitimate rights and interests of immovable property rights holders. These Measures have been formulated in line with the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China, the Provisional Property Registration Regulations, the Detailed Rules on the Implementation of the Provisional Property Registration Regulations, the Interim Measures for the Consultation of Real Estate Registration Materials, the Measures of Guangzhou Municipality for Immovable Property Registration, and the Regulations of Guangzhou Municipality on Optimizing Business Environment as well as in light of the realities of Guangzhou.
Article 2 The immovable property registration information referred to in these Measures includes:
(i) The immovable property register and other immovable property registration results. Matters recorded in the immovable property register include natural conditions such as the location, boundaries, spatial limits, area, and purposes of the immovable property; ownership conditions such as the holder, type, content, source, duration, and changes of the immovable property rights; and restrictions and caveats on the immovable property rights as well as other pertinent matters.
(ii) Original immovable property registration information, including application materials such as application forms, identity certificates of applicants, materials concerning the source of immovable property ownership, documents for registration reasons, and immovable property cadastral survey results; review materials from verification, inquiries, on-site visits or investigations, and announcements by immovable property registration institutions; and replies and opinions issued by relevant organs as well as other materials required to be kept as per law during the process of immovable property registration.
Article 3 The municipal authority of planning and nature resources is the immovable property registration institution of the municipality, which is responsible for implementing these Measures and managing inquiries about immovable property registration information in the municipality.
The Municipal Real Estate Archives and district institutions for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management provide concrete services for inquiries about immovable property registration information. The Municipal Real Estate Archives is responsible for guiding districts in services for inquiries about immovable property registration information.
Article 4 Immovable property rights holders, interested parties, and relevant state organs may inquire about and duplicate immovable property registration information as per law.
Immovable property rights holders and interested parties may entrust lawyers or other agents to inquire about or duplicate immovable property registration information.
In the case that an arbitral or notary institution inquires about immovable property registration information related to an arbitration case or notarization matters as per law, these Measures shall apply.
Inquiries about immovable property registration information that involves state secrets shall be subject to pertinent provisions in the Law on Guarding State Secrets.
Article 5 The Municipal Real Estate Archives and district institutions for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management shall enhance the application of information technology and utilize a variety of means such as Internet technologies, new identification technologies, and online applications via express mail to bring convenience to inquirers.
In an application for inquiring about the original information of immovable property registration, digital results shall be prioritized in retrieval. Paper-borne original information may be retrieved in any of the following circumstances.
(i) In the case of a genuine need to authenticate immovable property registration information for litigation or arbitration, the paper-borne original information shall be authenticated by a judicial authentication institution authorized by the people’s court or the arbitration institution at a venue designated by the Municipal Real Estate Archives or the district institution for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management.
(ii) Other circumstances where the Municipal Real Estate Archives or a district institution for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management acknowledges that there is a genuine need and necessity to retrieve the paper-borne original information.
Article 6 The Municipal Real Estate Archives and district institutions for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management shall provide necessary venues for inquiries and arrange dedicated personnel to handle the inquiry and duplication of immovable property registration information and the issuance of certificates of inquiry results.
The Municipal Real Estate Archives and district institutions for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management may, in accordance with actual needs, set up self-service inquiry terminals at the municipal and district administrative affairs departments, the people’s courts, and sub-district offices to facilitate citizens’ inquiries at the nearest facility. The addresses of the self-service inquiry terminals shall be publicly available.
Article 7 The application for an inquiry about immovable property registration information by immovable property rights holders and interested parties shall be genuinely necessary, and the purpose of the inquiry shall be legitimate, definitive, and in compliance with laws and regulations.
Immovable property rights holders and interested parties may apply for an inquiry for certification of ownership, inheritance, trading, swap, bestowal, rental, mortgage, litigation, or arbitration.
The Municipal Real Estate Archives or the district institution for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management shall provide the required immovable property registration information in accordance with the inquirer’s purpose.
Article 8 Immovable property rights holders and interested parties applying for an inquiry about the immovable property registration information shall submit an inquiry application.
The inquiry application shall contain the following items:
(i) The subject of the inquiry;
(ii) The purpose of the inquiry;
(iii) The information to be inquired about;
(iv) Requirements for inquiry results; and
(v) A list of application materials submitted.
Article 9 Immovable property rights holders and interested parties applying for an inquiry about immovable property registration information shall submit the original of their corresponding identity certificates as follows:
(i) Natural persons from the Chinese mainland: the resident ID card or the identity certificate for military officers or non-commissioned officers. In the case that the resident ID card is missing, a temporary resident ID card shall be submitted. Minors may submit the resident ID card or the household register;
(ii) Natural persons from the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR): the resident ID card, passport, Mainland Travel Permit, or residence permit for Hong Kong or Macao residents;
(iii) Natural persons from Taiwan: the Mainland Travel Permit or the residence permit for Taiwan residents;
(iv) Overseas Chinese: the passport of the People’s Republic of China and the certificate of long-term residence abroad;
(v) Natural persons with foreign citizenship: the residence certificate issued by the competent authority of the Chinese government or the passport issued by their domicile country;
(vi) Legal-person or non-legal-person organizations from the Chinese mainland: the business license, the Unified Social Credit Code Certificate, the legal person certificate for public institutions, the legal person registration certificate for social organizations, or other identity registration certificates;
(vii) Legal-person or non-legal-person organizations from the Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan: notarized, transmitted, or forwarded incorporation documents and the registration certificate or approval documents and the registration certificate for setting up branches or representative offices in the Chinese mainland;
(viii) Legal-person or non-legal-person organizations from the Macao SAR: incorporation documents and the registration certificate that are notarized, authenticated, or notarized by China Legal Service (Macao) or approval documents and the registration certificate for setting up branches or representative offices in the Chinese mainland; and
(ix) Foreign legal-person or non-legal-person organizations: an apostille or notarized or certified incorporation documents and the registration certificate or approval documents and the registration certificate for setting up branches or representative offices in the Chinese mainland.
With respect to immovable property already registered, in the case that the rights holders have undergone changes in their name, identity certificate type, or identity certificate number, they shall provide materials evidencing such changes when applying for an inquiry.
In the case that an entity applies for an inquiry, the original of the handler’s identity certificate and the letter of authorization issued by the entity shall be submitted concurrently.
Article 10 In the case that an immovable property rights holder or interested party entrusts an agent to inquire about immovable property registration information, the original of the identity certificates of both the rights holder or interested party and the agent and the letter of authorization shall be provided concurrently.
The letter of authorization shall contain the names and ID card numbers or Unified Social Credit Codes of both parties, the matters authorized, the duration of authorization, legal obligations, and the date of authorization, and shall be signed or sealed by both parties.
In the case that an agent is entrusted to inquire about or duplicate immovable property registration information upon authorization, the scope of inquiry or duplication shall be subject to the letter of authorization.
Article 11 Identity certificates, letters of authorization, marriage certificates, death certificates, kinship certificates, and other application materials issued overseas shall be notarized, certified, or provided with apostille as per state provisions. In the case of application materials in foreign languages, the inquirer shall submit their Chinese translations and be responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of the application materials in foreign languages and their Chinese translations.
Article 12 Immovable property registration institutions shall enhance the information sharing with the departments of housing and urban-rural development, public security, civil affairs, taxation, education, urban management, and finance by such technical means of the catalog of the municipal administrative big data center. The information-sharing departments shall enable real-time and connected access to information related to immovable property registration that falls into their respective purview as per law. In the case of actual difficulties in sharing information online, the sharing may be done offline.
With respect to application materials which the Municipal Real Estate Archives and district institutions for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management may obtain by information sharing means such as the municipal administrative big data center, the inquirer shall not be required to submit them, unless otherwise provided by laws or regulations.
Article 13 In the case that an inquirer meets the conditions for an inquiry and requests to issue a certificate of the inquiry results or to duplicate the original information of immovable property registration, the Municipal Real Estate Archives or the district institution for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management shall provide the certificate or copy on the spot.
In the case of unavailability on the spot for the reason that the original immovable property registration information has not been digitalized, it shall be provided in 1 working day. In the case of unavailability on the spot for the reason that inquiries are made in batches or the registration information has to be recovered, it shall be provided in 5 working days.
In the case of unavailability on the spot, the Municipal Real Estate Archives or the district institution for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management shall inform the inquirer of the fact and the reason.
The certificate of inquiry results shall contain the purpose and date of the inquiry and be affixed with the seal dedicated to inquiries about immovable property registration information.
Article 14 The Municipal Real Estate Archives or the district institution for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management shall not permit an inquiry and issue a notice on the rejection in any of the following circumstances:
(i) Where the application materials submitted by the inquirer do not comply with these Measures;
(ii) Where the subject of the inquiry or the matters to be inquired about do not comply with these Measures;
(iii) Where the purpose of the inquiry does not comply with laws or regulations; or
(iv) Other circumstances as provided by laws, administrative regulations, or rules.
The notice on the rejection shall be provided to the inquirer within 5 working days. In the case of disagreement with the notice on the rejection, the inquirer may apply for an administrative reconsideration or institute an administrative lawsuit as per law.
Article 15 Rights holders recorded in the immovable property register may inquire about and duplicate the following immovable property registration information upon submitting an inquiry application and the original of their identity certificate:
(i) The registration results of the immovable property concerned; and
(ii) The original registration information of the immovable property concerned.
Article 16 Immovable property rights holders may apply for an inquiry about and copy of immovable property registration information in accordance with any of the following index information, unless otherwise provided by laws or regulations:
(i) Specific identity information of the subject such as the name and the ID card number/Unified Social Credit Code of the rights holder;
(ii) Location details of the immovable property;
(iii) The serial number of the immovable property ownership certificate;
(iv) The unit number of the immovable property; or
(v) The serial number of the immovable property registration certificate.
Article 17 The provisions of these Measures governing immovable property rights holders’ inquiry and duplication of immovable property registration information apply to an inquirer who satisfies one of the following conditions:
(i) Where an inheritor or legatee acquires immovable property rights via inheritance or bequest; or
(ii) Where a party to a litigation or arbitration acquires immovable property rights as per a valid legal instrument issued by the people’s court or arbitration institution.
Article 18 An inheritor or legatee shall submit the following materials when applying for an inquiry about or copying of immovable property registration information:
(i) An inquiry application;
(ii) The original identity certificate;
(iii) The death certificate for the decedent; and
(iv) Proof of inheritance or bequest such as a certificate of kinship, the will, or the legacy support agreement.
The “certificate of kinship” herein includes the household register, the marriage certificate, the adoption certificate, and the birth certificate. In the case that none of the foregoing materials is available or the kinship cannot be evidenced, the inquirer may submit a certificate issued by the public security authority, the villagers’ committee, the residents’ committee, or the employer of the decedent or inheritor, or other proof of the kinship.
Article 19 In the case that a party to a litigation or arbitration acquires immovable property rights as per a valid legal instrument shall submit the following materials when applying for an inquiry about and copying of immovable property registration information:
(i) An inquiry application;
(ii) The original of the identity certificate (in the case of a natural person) or qualification certificates, the original of the handler’s identity certificate, and the letter of authorization (in the case of a legal person); and
(iii) The original of the valid legal instrument.
Article 20 Liquidation groups, bankruptcy administrators, property custodians, guardians, administrators of the decedent’s estate, and other actors who have the legitimate right to administer and dispose of immovable property rights may inquire about and duplicate the immovable property registration information of the immovable property rights holders concerned in accordance with Articles 15 and 16 of these Measures.
For an inquiry about immovable property registration information in accordance with this Article, the following materials shall be submitted:
(i) An inquiry application;
(ii) The original of the identity certificate (in the case of a natural person) or qualification certificates, the original of the handler’s identity certificate, and letter of authorization (in the case of a legal person); and
(iii) The original of the proof of the legitimate right to dispose of the immovable property concerned.
Article 21 An interested party that meets one of the following conditions may apply for an inquiry about the registration results of the immovable property of interest, including the natural conditions, ownership conditions, rights restrictions, and caveats of the immovable property:
(i) Where the party becomes interested for the reason of trading, swap, bestowal, rental, or mortgage of the immovable property;
(ii) Where the party becomes interested because the immovable property is involved in a civil dispute and a legal or arbitral action has been instituted against it; or
(iii) Other circumstances provided by laws or regulations.
In the case that the spouse of an immovable property rights holder applies for an inquiry, the inquiry scope of interested parties as provided in this Article shall apply.
Article 22 In the case that an interested party to an immovable property applies for an inquiry about the registration results of the immovable property of interest, the party shall submit the following materials that evidence the interest in addition to the inquiry application and the original of the party’s identity certificate:
(i) The trading, swap, bestowal, rental, or mortgage contract in the case that the party becomes interested for the reason of trading, swap, bestowal, rental, or mortgage of the immovable property; or
(II) The notice of court or arbitration acceptance in the case that the party becomes interested because the immovable property is involved in a civil dispute and a legal or arbitral action has been instituted against it.
In the case that the spouse of an immovable property rights holder applies for an inquiry, the spouse shall submit valid certificates of the marital relationship with the rights holder such as the marriage certificate and the household register.
Article 23 In the case that a person intends to trade, rent, or mortgage an immovable property or plans to institute a legal or arbitral action against an immovable property but fails to provide the evidentiary materials as provided by Article 22 of these Measures, he or she may submit an inquiry application and the original of his or her identity certificate to inquire about part of the registration results of the immovable property in accordance with index information such as the location details, serial number of the ownership certificate, and unit number of the immovable property:
(i) The natural conditions of the immovable property;
(ii) The name of the immovable property rights holder in the case that the immovable property is not a residence and the rights holder is a legal-person or non-legal-person organization;
(iii) Whether the immovable property is jointly owned;
(iv) Whether the immovable property is subject to mortgage registrations, advance notice registrations, dissenting registrations, residential rights registrations, or easement registrations; and
(v) Whether the immovable property is encumbered with sequestration registrations or other circumstances where the disposal of the immovable property is restricted.
This Article does not apply to circumstances involving state secrets.
Article 24 A lawyer entrusted by a party as provided by Article 24 of these Measures may also apply for an inquiry about the following information recorded in the immovable property register:
(i) Whether the name of the claimed rights holder of the inquired immovable property is consistent with the record of the register;
(ii) The form of joint ownership of the immovable property; and
(iii) The name of the authority that demands the sequestration registration or restriction on disposal of the immovable property.
Article 25 In the case that a lawyer is entrusted by a party to apply for an inquiry about immovable property registration information, the lawyer shall submit an inquiry application, the lawyer’s legal practice permit, the letter of authorization issued by the party, a copy of the party’s ID card, and a certificate issued by the law firm the lawyer serves or an official letter on legal aid. In the case of a civil or arbitral action, the lawyer entrusted by an interested party to an immovable property shall additionally provide a notice of court or arbitration acceptance or other legal instruments.
In the case that a lawyer applies for an inquiry about immovable property registration information upon an investigation order issued by the people’s court, the lawyer shall provide an inquiry application, his/her legal practice permit, a certificate issued by the law firm he/she serves or an official letter on legal aid, and the investigation order of the people’s court.
Article 26 The interested party to an immovable property may apply for an inquiry about immovable property registration information in accordance with the following index information:
(i) Location details of the immovable property;
(ii) The serial number of the immovable property ownership certificate;
(iii) The unit number of the immovable property; or
(iv) The serial number of the immovable property registration certificate.
Each application can be used to inquire about only one registered immovable property unit.
In the case that the spouse of an immovable property rights holder applies for an inquiry, the rights holder’s name and citizen identity number may also be used as index information.
Article 27 State organs such as the people’s courts, the people’s procuratorates, the public security authorities, the state security organs, and the disciplinary inspection and supervision organs may inquire about, duplicate, and investigate the immovable property registration information related to the matters they handle as per law. In an on-site inquiry by any of the foregoing state organs, the handlers they send out shall produce their work certificates and supporting materials for the inquiry, such as legal instruments in which matters to be inquired about are set out and a letter of introduction issued by the state organ that they serve, to the Municipal Real Estate Archives or the district institution for immovable property registration affairs or immovable property registration archives management. In the case of inquiring by way of issuing official letters, the purpose of the inquiry, the matters to be inquired about, and the documents serving as the basis of their request shall be noted in the letter, and clear-cut index information shall be offered.
In the case that other state organs inquire about or duplicate immovable property registration information to execute public affairs as per law, this Article shall apply.
Article 28 The immovable property registration information acquired by state organs in accordance with the provisions of these Measures shall be used only to meet the state organ’s definitive needs in performing duties in strict accordance with laws or regulations. It shall not be leaked or used for other purposes, nor shall it be provided for third parties for use.
Article 29 These Measures shall take effect as of the date of the issuance for a duration of 5 years.
The Measures of Guangzhou for Immovable Property Registration Information Inquiry (Sui Gui Hua Zi Yuan Gui Zi [2019] No. 1) shall be rescinded as of the date of enactment of these Measures.
Form of Disclosure: Active Disclosure