China's legal profession admission exam draws 606,700 candidates

BEIJING - A total of 606,700 people have signed up for the first phase of testing of China's unified qualification exam for legal professionals this year, according to the Ministry of Justice.

A total of 392,700 candidates chose to take the first phase of the exam -- test of objective questions -- on Saturday, while the remainder will sit the exam on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement said such an arrangement will allow more people to take this year's exam, as more law-related professions are requiring applicants to pass the exam.

The candidates may also choose to take the exam in ethnic minority languages including Mongolian, Korean, Tibetan, Uygur and Kazakh.

Candidates who pass this year's first phase and those who passed last year but failed in the second phase will be eligible to take this year's second phase of the exam -- subjective test -- scheduled on Oct 13.