The number of lawyers in China has exceeded 110,000, with half of them having a tertiary education background, according to the head of the All-China Lawyers Association.
Forty percent of the lawyers hold university diplomas, while five percent have obtained master's degree's or doctorate's, the official noted.
Currently, the country has over 9,000 law offices, with 44 percent of them held by law partnerships, an international practice introduced only a few years ago.
Most lawyers disappeared in China during the political turmoil of the 1960s-70s then reappeared, when China launched its reform and opening drive in the late 1970s.
The proportion of lawyers to the population in China is lagging far behind other developed countries, though the number has increased by almost 50 times during the past two decades, the official said.
(Eastday.com 11/18/2000)
