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Chinese people have much greater access to legal advice and the justice system since the country began to establish its legal assistance system eight years ago.
The latest figures released by the Ministry of Justice indicated that more than 300,000 people benefited from legal assistance in 2001, 80,000 more than the previous year.
Nearly 180,000 cases of legal assistance were handled across the country last year, an increase of 3 percent from 2000.
Up to now, China has set up more than 2,300 legal assistance bodies, with over 8,000 professionals engaged.
Ten of the country's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, including Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu, have enacted laws concerning legal assistance.
(Xinhua News Agency October 7, 2002)
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