Foreign nationals can sell their houses in China. You need to go through relevant notarization procedures and clarify the details of the entrustment contract, and it is best to open a bank account in China to receive the house payment. The specific procedures are as follows:

(1) Handle power of attorney, notarial certificates and certification.

In reality, many foreign nationals will entrust professional real estate lawyers to handle the sale of their houses. In this case, when it is not the householder who sells the house himself, the householder must first issue a power of attorney authorizing the one entrusted to sell the house, and the power of attorney must be notarized.

The notarization procedures of the power of attorney depend on the specific circumstances. On March 8, 2023, China officially joined the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention"), which came into force on November 7 of the same year. The Convention is the international treaty with the widest scope of application and the largest number of contracting parties under the framework of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. It aims to simplify the procedures for the cross-border circulation of public documents, replace traditional consular certification with a more convenient way of certification, and promote international trade and personnel exchanges. Previously, if public documents needed to be used across borders, in addition to being notarized by local notarial agencies, they  also  needed to  be  legalized  by consulates. The  process was cumbersome  and time-consuming. After the Convention came into effect, public documents sent from China to other contracting states shall only require an Apostille as prescribed by the Convention and may then be used directly in the receiving State without undergoing consular legalization by either Chinese authorities or the embassies/consulates of the destination country in China. Public documents sent from other Contracting States to Chinese Mainland for use shall only require an Apostille issued by the competent authority of the originating State, and are exempt from consular legalization by both the originating State’s authorities and Chinese embassies/consulates in that country.

Both the US and China are parties to the Convention. Therefore, your power of attorney executed in the US only needs to go through notarization and subsequent apostille issuance by a US competent authority. This document may then be directly used in China without consular authentication by either the US federal authorities or Chinese embassies/consulates in the US. This streamlined process significantly reduces processing time. However, it should be noted that the traditional consular legalization procedures remain applicable to documents exchanged with states not acceding to the Convention.

(2) Apply for the owner's debit cards.

To facilitate the subsequent  receipt of transaction funds, it is generally  necessary to prepare a bank account opened in China. For example, in reality, if the buyer purchases a house using a provident fund loan, the seller needs to hold a local debit card to receive the loan from the local housing provident fund management center.

If it is inconvenient for you to open a bank account yourself and you entrust a trustee for the transaction, you need to pay attention to the policies of different banks. Currently, when applying for a new debit card, only some banks allow a trustee to handle the process by presenting the original ID card of the principal. Other banks only permit the issuance of a passbook, and the trustee must be present in person to apply for a debit card.

(3) Process the ownership transfer procedures.

After all documents are prepared, the seller can go to the housing management department with the power of attorney, notarization, property ownership certificate, and ID card to handle the ownership transfer formalities. When handling the transfer formalities, the seller should be present with the buyer to verify the identities of both parties.

Please note that if you are entrusted to sell a foreign national's property in China, the power of attorney must clearly state the location of the property, the trustee's authority to dispose of the property, and other matters of entrustment. At present, professional real estate  lawyers generally  have experience  in  handling various  procedures for foreign nationals to sell houses in China. House-selling clients can consult in advance and then go through the relevant procedures.

[Excerpt  from  "Important  Notices  for  Foreign  Nationals  Selling  Houses  in  China (Lawyer's Mailbox)" in People's Daily]