China has seen the number of its lawyers grow significantly since 2002 thanks in part to a judiciary examination reform, the Ministry of Justice said recently.

By 2014, the total number of lawyers exceeded 270,000, compared with 137,000 in 2002, for an almost 100-percent increase. Over the same time, more law offices had sprung up across China, increasing from 10,000 in 2001, to more than 20,000 by the end of 2014, and they covered more specialized areas, such as securities, finance, real estate, and intellectual property.

The ministry and its offices at various levels have in fact given priority to cultivating lawyers and it established a National Lawyers College in 2012 and related rulings, including standardized training, to help raise the professional and moral level of China’s lawyers.