China sees expanding coverage, improvement of legal aid services

BEIJING -- China's legal aid institutions organized and handled over 1.37 million legal assistance cases and provided legal counseling for over 19.8 million people in 2022, said the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) at a press conference Wednesday.

Since the country's legal aid law was enacted on Jan. 1, 2022, China has witnessed ever-expanding coverage and substantially improved legal assistance services, said the MOJ.

Noting the country's increasing workforce featuring new forms of employment, the MOJ said it has guided localities to focus on these workers, including food delivery and express delivery couriers, as key groups of legal assistance, providing them with diverse and convenient services.

In 2022, legal aid agencies nationwide handled 468,000 legal aid cases for migrant workers, benefiting 525,000 migrant workers, according to the MOJ.

To improve the standardization of legal aid services, the MOJ has also released newly-revised stipulations on procedures for handling legal aid cases, which will take effect on Sept. 1.