Nearly 7 mln Chinese receive legal aid in past five years

BEIJING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Legal aid institutions across China have handled about 6.34 million cases during the past five years, helping 6.96 million people, the Ministry of Justice said Thursday.

Over the past five years, legal aid institutions at all levels have helped 2.47 million migrant workers, 328,000 people with disabilities, 585,000 elderly people and 742,000 minors, the ministry said.

Twenty provinces in China have lowered the income standards for people to receive legal aid, said Liu Zhenyu, vice minister of justice, adding that most provinces in the country have included cases concerning labor security, marriage, food and drugs, education and medical care into the scope of legal aid services.

"Migrant workers and people with disabilities are the focus of legal aid work," Liu said, noting that the ministry has stepped up efforts to help them by improving the legal aid service mechanism.

Liu also called for solid efforts to provide legal aid for migrant workers at the end of the year, a period when dispute cases concerning the interests and rights of migrant workers appear frequently.