A party who is in foreign country may not have to return to China after entrusting a Chinese divorce lawyer to represent them. But, the power of attorney letter must be authorized along with a notarized passport and divorce will statement that is certified by the Chinese embassy located in that country. The divorce will statement should express their wishes towards the divorce, rights to children, and division of property.
If the foreign party is going to entrust a lawyer to handle the litigation, it must be a Chinese lawyer because the civil procedures law in China stipulates that litigations are carried out in Chinese language and writing and will use these characters even when hearing a foreign related case. However, the foreign party may entrust Aliens (including embassies and consulates) as agents as long as they don’t appear in court as the lawyer. Regardless of agent or lawyer, any documents and materials should be in Chinese. These materials need to be translated by an authorized translator as well as in court during the trial and the costs for the translator are the responsibility of the two parties.
If a domestic party filed the lawsuit, the foreign party may be absent from the trial but it must be noted that the court will only rule to dissolve the relationship, rights to children, and domestic property. The court will not have any dealing with property that is another country.
