Beijing, Aug 12 (IANS): China has recruited 23,500 lawyers as legal advisers to the government at all levels, as part of an effort to facilitate a "law-based" administration, a minister said.
Zhao Dacheng, vice minister of justice, said the figure accounted for more than one-tenth of the country's total lawyers, reported Xinhua.
Of them, more than 1,300 were employed by provincial-level governments, 8,100 were recruited by city-level and 14,000 by prefecture-level governments, he said.
The lawyers were previously employed as government agents to participate in lawsuits, but now they have been tasked with offering advice to the government in dealing with legal affairs, Zhao said.
They will also take part in the drafting and amending of government documents, negotiations on foreign-related projects as well as restructure of state-owned enterprises, the minister said.