Licensed lawyers surpass 271,000 in China

BEIJING -- China had more than 271,000 licensed lawyers in some 22,000 law firms by the end of 2014, the Ministry of Justice said on Wednesday.

About 90 percent of the lawyers are full-time professionals, with the rest including professionals in government agencies and companies.

Some 74,000 of the lawyers were members of the Communist Party, the ministry said in a statement.

It said there were 330 offices set up in China by 265 foreign law firms from 21 nations and regions by the end of 2014.

In 2014, lawyers working in China handled more than 2.8 million lawsuits. They also took care of 360,000 cases of legal assistance.

In a separate statement, the ministry said there were a total of 3,006 notary services, employing 12,960 notaries, in China.